


Beginnings

by konyah



Series: Origins [1]
Category: Boruto: Naruto Next Generations, Naruto
Genre: F/M, Gaiden, Naruto Gaiden
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-04-17
Packaged: 2019-02-11 08:31:46
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 32,350
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12931503
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/konyah/pseuds/konyah
Summary: He slowly realized that she was his home. She knew it all along.This takes place shortly after Naruto and Hinata's wedding in the anime, the main focus being Sasuke and Sakura traveling, and navigating each other and their new relationship.





	1. Stars

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! This is being posted a LOT later than I wanted to. When I first tried to make an AO3 account, my email got lost in the system and I had to reapply. BUT, here it is! I hope you enjoy it! Feel free to comment, etc. Also, my tumblr username is also konyah, so feel free to follow me there as well!
> 
> This serious contains: smut and light mentions of PTSD.

Sakura found herself treading slightly behind Sasuke as they walked through beautiful greenery. It’s been about half a day since they left Konoha… half a day since she convinced the raven haired man to let her join after a short return home. He stated that his journey had nothing to do with her, but he didn’t say no. She was beyond grateful that she could finally get to reconnect with him. After all, Naruto just married Hinata so the two were always together. Ino and Sai’s relationship had become serious, with rumors that he would propose soon. _Hell_ , even Shikamaru found solace with Temari. She honestly was starting to feel lonely.

 

_It’s my turn to get close to someone, Shanna-_

Her internal dialogue was interrupted when Sasuke turned around, a few more steps ahead of her, “Should we stop to take a break?” _Maybe she’s tired?_

 

Sakura held her hands up defensively, “Ah! No, really, I’m fine, Sasuke-kun. We can keep going if you want to. I was just deep in thought, is all.”

 

He nodded, looking at the sky, “It’s getting late anyways.” He noted how the sun was starting to set, “We should find a place to set up camp for the night.”

 

Sakura looked up, forgetting that they left shortly after lunch-time. Now that he mentioned it, she was starting to get a little hungry.

 

“Okay,” She agreed, looking back at him. The kunoichi silently agreed to let him find a good spot. After all, he had been traveling for years now.

 

“Ne, I’ll go find sticks for the fire. Do you want to get the other things set up?” She suggested after setting her backpack down. He simply nodded in reply.

 

With that, she began walking towards a cluster of trees, picking up an abundance of dry sticks. Again, she found herself trapped in her thoughts of how lucky she felt to be traveling with the man she had loved for so many years.

 

As the sun began to set more, Sasuke became more and more worried. Sakura had been gone for a while now, almost too long. He held an internal battle of “she’s a strong woman who can take care of herself” to “what if something happened?” The latter thought ended up winning, and he stood up with a soft swear.

 

When he saw her back bent over, picking up a stick, a soft sigh of relief escaped his lips. _This woman will be the death of me._ He thought as he walked over to her. She was quietly humming a familiar song he couldn't quite put a name to.

 

“Hey.”

 

She jumped with her breath hitching and swiftly turned around.

 

“O-Oh!” She chuckled, relieved it was just Sasuke, “I didn’t notice you were walking up to me.”

 

He blinked twice, looking at the sticks she accumulated, “That should be enough.” He turned around, walking back towards their campsite.

 

Sakura pursed her lips a little bit, watching Sasuke walk away from her.

 

She wasn’t expecting their journey to be like this. Sure, she didn’t expect it to be like when Team 7 went on missions, but this?

 

_I didn’t think this would be so awkward…_

 

She let out a soft sigh, following Sasuke.

 

Dinner was… quiet. Sakura tried to make a comment on how the stars looked beautiful, with nothing beyond “Hn” for a reply.

 

She wouldn't give up though. She _needed_ to break the thick layer ice that stood between them.

 

“Y’know, when I was a kid, I would sneak up to the roof of my house and just watch the stars until late at night. I’ve always had a little bit of a fascination with them.”

 

Silence.

 

She looked down at her empty plate of food, feeling completely defeated.

 

_Did I say something wrong? Am I talking too much? Maybe joining Sasuke was a bad idea… He’s probably annoyed with me. Why’d he even let me join him in the first place? If he’s just going to act like thi-_

“It’s getting late. We should go to sleep.” He slowly stood up, her gaze following his face, “To make sure we’re safe, you should get sleep first, and I’ll keep watch. Then we’ll switch in the night.”

 

“You don’t want to sleep first?”

 

He shrugged, “I prefer to stay up late and sleep in. If I remember right, you’ve always been an early riser.”

 

She couldn’t help but to smile. Even though their missions as Team 7 felt like ages ago, he still remembered that small detail about her.

 

Sasuke perched himself in a tree nearby, the moon shining near him, creating a soft silhouette. Sakura found herself smiling at him, before slowly drifting off to sleep.

 

6 hours later, Sakura woke up. She looked at her mobile phone (which she could really only use as a clock since there wasn't much service where she was at), reading that it was 4 in the morning. The sun was starting to rise. She sat up and stretched, then walked under the tree Sasuke was still under.

 

“Hey, I’m ready to switch now!” She called up to him.

 

Sasuke skilfully jumped down from the tree, a slightly puzzled look on his face, “You could’ve slept in a little longer.” He wasn’t expecting her to be up this early.

 

Sakura giggled, “I’m used to it. I’m usually up in an hour from now anyways to work at the hospital.”

 

He shrugged, wondering how anyone in their rightful mind could wake up at that time. “Okay,” He walked towards the camp, “Wake me up if you start to get tired.”

 

She nodded, “Good night, Sasuke-kun.”

 

Sasuke simply waved his hand as Sakura leapt into the tree.

 

\----

 

When noon rolled around, Sakura became worried. She glanced over her shoulder to make sure he was still at the campsite. She could barely see him, but he was still in his sleeping bag. _Does he always sleep in like this when he travels?_

 

She became curious, and decided to walk up to him. Maybe he would be upset if she didn’t wake him up.

 

When Sakura’s feet were about twelve inches away from his face, she crouched down. He was softly snoring, eyes moving from whatever he was dreaming about. He looked so _damn_ peaceful. She had a strong urge to touch him.

 

She decided to be brave, tucking dark bangs behind his ear, and gently moved her fingers along the line of his jaw.

 

His eyes slowly fluttered open and she jolted her hand back, blushing furiously.

 

Honestly, Sasuke forgot where he was and who he was with. He also didn’t know why he had been woken up. When his eyes focused on pink hair, he remembered he wasn’t traveling alone.

 

“What time is it, Sakura?”

 

The red on her cheeks faded to a soft pink, “It’s almost twelve-thirty.”

 

“Hn.” He rolled over with a yawn, “Five more minutes.”

 

 _What?_ He had been asleep for over ten hours, and he wanted just _five more minutes_? She felt like a mother who was trying to wake her child up for school.

 

She sucked her lips in, attempting not to laugh. She failed miserably, however, and burst into a laughing fit.

 

Sasuke’s shoulders stiffened; he knew he was being laughed at. He slowly sat up, watching her with an unamused expression, “I don’t like being woken up, y’know.”

 

“I’m sorry…” She didn’t sound sincere, still laughing, “It’s just… so _uncool_.”

 

His eyes narrowed, “Why would I care about something stupid like that?”

 

 She sucked her lips in, looking at him innocently. She knew he wasn’t happy.

 

“You’re annoying.”

 

“You’re uncool.”

 

He rolled his eyes, laying back down.

 

“C’mon, we have to get ready.” She tried to reason with him, “What if I cook breakfast? Then will you get up?”

 

He simply huffed, “Sure.”

 

Within an hour, Sakura had breakfast ready. As they ate she noticed his grumpy mood starting to disappear just by how his face softened.

 

Most probably would’ve seen Sasuke as being rude earlier, but Sakura thought it was absolutely adorable.

 

_Maybe this trip won’t be so awkward after all._

 

__

 

They have officially been traveling for a month now, and the awkwardness isn’t nearly as bad as it used to be.

 

They have both been rediscovering how the other person acts. Sakura learned that Sasuke being quiet isn’t a bad thing – it’s just part of his introverted personality. She learned to accept the quietness as thoughtfulness.

 

She’s even learned to tap into that thoughtfulness, and learned more about his past. She found that Sasuke is the most talkative right after dinner, and usually answers her questions more in depth then. Over the past month she’s asked him why he’s been traveling, and even gets a few stories out of him sometimes. Or they’ll reminisce about the past with Team 7.

 

Sasuke learned that he actually missed having someone to talk to. He found himself initiating casual conversations every once in a while. Whether it was about where they were going to next, what they should do for dinner – he even asked if she was homesick once.

 

She said no, and smiled at him. But what she wouldn’t tell him was that home was with him.

 

They have even been a little more “physical” with each other. When they’re waling by each other, their hands will occasionally brush, causing both of them to blush, but neither of them will pull away. Or when she brings up something slightly embarrassing about him (e.g. Sasuke’s first “kiss” with Naruto), she’ll playfully bump into him and he’ll playfully call her annoying. (She knows it’s playful because she swears she sees a small smile on his face).

 

Finally, things are starting to become _comfortable_ , almost _natural._

 

But nothing can prepare her for this night.

 

She suggested setting up camp, as the sun was about to go down, but he insisted that they continue on a little more. Curious, but not arguing, Sakura agreed to.

 

They were climbing up a hill, and the sun was completely gone, their only lights being from the stars and moon.

 

“Sasuke-kun, it’s getting really late. Where are we going?”

 

He ignored her. _We’re almost there._

 

She furrowed her eyebrows, but continued to follow him, “Sasuke-kun… We really shou-“

 

Sasuke interrupted her, “We’re here.” He stopped at a cliff, and she looked at him questioningly.

 

_Is he smiling?_

 

“I remembered how you said you like stars. I’ve been here before and I think it’s the best view of them. Look.” He pointed up towards the sky.

 

She blinked a few times looking up, her mouth open in awe. She honestly had never seen the stars like this before – Milky Way in sight. She even saw a shooting star.

 

“T-This is beautiful…”

 

But Sasuke wasn’t looking at the stars. The only view he wanted to see was her – she was his stars. The way that the moon reflected off her emerald eyes full of wonder, her creamy skin practically glowing, and her lips… they looked so kissable. He could feel his heartbeat pick up as his stomach did flips.

 

Sakura could feel his burning gaze on her, it froze her, and she couldn’t look away from the sky. She was suddenly aware just how close they were – their shoulders touching. His right hand slowly weaved around hers as their fingers intertwined.

 

This was as far as Sasuke intended to go, until she finally turned her head towards him.

 

“Thank you for showing me this, Sasuke-kun…”  


In one swift motion, his body reacted and he bent over to kiss her.

 

It was quick, and he almost missed. Sakura really didn’t even have time to react to it.

 

To hide his blush, he turned around and started walking away, “We should set up camp now…”

 

Again, she was frozen, until he held his hand out to her and looked over his shoulder with a soft smile, “Are you coming?”

 

She smiled, taking his hand.

 

 _Yeah, definitely not awkward_.


	2. Nightmares

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke has nightmares, and Sakura notices them. 
> 
> PTSD mention warning!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As someone with PTSD, this chapter was a little difficult for me. Not in a sense of having flashbacks, but trying to not make this purely based upon my story. I also really didn’t want to make it seem like Sakura “cured” it, since that’s not how it works. Please note that my experience with PTSD, or the character portrayals of PTSD, are NOT everyone’s experiences with PTSD!

Two months. It had been two months since Sasuke and Sakura started their travels. Sakura was still in disbelief about the whole situation, and often found herself smiling at the thought of it. It still felt like a dream –almost a fantasy – that she would soon wake up from. Even better, it had been one month since their first kiss.

 

Since then, they’ve shared little pecks here and there, or would hold hands every once in a while. She even felt comfortable with using pet names for him. At first, they were usually initiated by Sakura, but Sasuke would sometimes surprise her and start them. However, she still had one burning question:

 

What were they?

 

Sakura knew she shouldn’t worry about this too much, after all, labels don’t matter. She still couldn’t shake the uncertainty, though. What should she call him? Was he her boyfriend? No, nothing had been confirmed. Lover? That sounded too strong. A friend whom she occasionally kissed? That wasn’t deep enough.

 

_Don’t get me wrong. I’m content with Sasuke-kun, whatever we are. I just want to know…_ _I just want to hear him confirm it…_

 

She let out a sigh, slumping her shoulders, frustrated by the situation, not noticing how far ahead Sasuke had walked.

 

When Sasuke noticed she wasn’t as close as he thought, he quickly turned around with an aggravated look on his face.

 

“Sakura… you need to keep up.” His glare pierced through her.

She almost retorted back, caught off by his sharp tone. However, she stopped when she saw the dark circles under his eyes. Was he not sleeping well?  


She walked up to him, her eyebrows furrowed with concern. Sasuke mistook this for sadness.

 

He didn’t want to hear her attempt to apologize, “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have lashed out at you.” The Uchiha let out a tired sigh as Sakura rested her hand on his cheek. Instinctively, he leaned into it.

 

“Are you okay?” Her thumb gently rubbed his cheek.

 

He nodded with a hum, “Don’t worry about it.” They were silent for a moment, eyes not breaking contact, before he spoke up again, “We should set up camp.”

 

Sakura knew the sun wouldn’t set for a few more hours. “Okay.” Resting would be good for him.

 

While they were setting up the campsite, Sakura recalled how Sasuke had been acting slightly cranky for the past few days. She just figured he was getting more comfortable. It never occurred to her how it could’ve been a lack of sleep. She made a note to wake up earlier so he could get more sleep that night.

 

After the sun set, and they were done with dinner, Sakura decided she would go to sleep since she planned on waking up a little earlier.

 

“Good night, Sasuke-kun.” She smiled up at him, her lips slightly pursed.

 

“’Night…” He blushed ever so slightly, quickly kissing her.

 

Sakura couldn’t hide the grin on her face as she laid down. She could’ve sworn she saw a soft smile on his face.

 

After about six hours of sleep, she instinctively woke up.

 

“We don’t have to switch places, yet.” He was confused when she sat up, sitting across from her, “You can get more sleep.”

 

She stretched her arms over her head before standing up, “It’s okay. I’m not tired and won’t be able to sleep anymore.”

 

“You barely slept for six hours…” He avoided eye contact, as if he didn’t want to sleep – like he wasn’t ready for it yet.

 

As he talked, she walked over to him. Bent over, of her hands were on his face, thumbs caressing the dark circles under his eyes. “You need to sleep, anata.” Her voice was gentle, convincing.

 

_Maybe tonight will be a good night_ … He practically prayed, giving in with a sigh of defeat. “Okay.” He stood up, his chin tilted down at her with a soft expression, “Goodnight, Sakura.”

 

“’Night, Sasuke-kun.” She smiled up at him before taking his seat.

 

Shortly after setting up his sleeping bag, his mind drifted to sleep.

 

….

 

  _Drip._

_Drip. Drip._

_Drip. Drip. Drip._

_Sasuke woke up in a dark, familiar room. He sat up, rubbing the sleep from his eyes. Looking down at his hands, he noticed that they were incredibly small – like a small child’s. Slowly, blood started dripping from his hands, all the innocent people he harmed were screaming in his ear, blaming him._

_No. Not this again…_

_He knew what was next, but he couldn’t stop himself from looking behind him._

_Blood splattered across his face as he witnessed Itachi killing their parents._

_Everything suddenly spiraled around him as the imagery changed._

_“Sasuke…”_  
  


_The voice was too familiar. He felt sick to his stomach._

_“H-Hey, Sasuke…”_  
  


_When the image cleared, it was his younger self, stabbing his sword straight through Sakura’s chest._

_“N-No… Sakura!” He ran up to her, catching her body as it fell to the ground._

_“I’m here, Sasuke…” The voice was faint, even though she was so close to him._

_“Sakura… How could I…” His blood stained hands creating a mess._

_“SASUKE!”_

_\----_

He sat up, sweat dripping from his face. Immediately, he looked at his right hand, a sigh of relief that there was no blood.

 

Then, he thought of Sakura. His mind started racing at the thought of her actually being hurt. He looked to his left, noticing Sakura was at his side with the most painfully worried expression he had ever seen.

 

“Sasuke… were you having a bad dream?”

 

_Just… a dream..._

 

He didn’t even notice that he was crying until she timidly reached her thumbs over to brush them away.

 

“It’s okay Sasuke… you’re here. You’re not there anymore.” She had a comforting smile, but her eyebrows were still raised with concern.

 

“I-It was horrible… I-I thought I lost you…” He began to frantically explain, having trouble finding the words he needed, “E-Everyone wa-…”

 

Sasuke was cut off when Sakura wrapped her arms around him in a hard embrace, “Sasuke… You don’t need to explain what happened. I know you’ve been through so much: both things that happened to you and things you did to others. You have so much going, trying to make peace with your past. I know I can’t heal you, or take it away. Just know that you _never_ have to go through any of this alone.” She backed far enough away so that her jade eyes met with his mismatched ones, “I’m here for you. I always have been, and I always will be – and the others too.”

 

Sasuke had no idea what to say – his mind was both blank and overwhelmed with what she just told him. No one had ever said those words to him – never quite like that.

 

The only thing he could think of to do was to pull her down with him, so they were laying side by side. When their heads hit the pillow, he kissed her more passionately than they ever had before. While it was passionate, it was still incredibly sweet and slow.

 

“Sakura…” He whispered when they parted, “Thank you.”

 

Sakura’s heart fluttered at this, and she knew that her issues before about “what they were” didn’t matter anymore. All she cared about was Sasuke’s happiness.

 

Slowly, he drifted back to a comfortable sleep, Sakura soon after.

 

….

 

The next morning, at around noon, Sakura slowly opened her eyes, noticing that Sasuke still had his shut. He was sleeping peacefully, his arm lazily around her waist. A soft blush crept along her cheeks when she realized that she had _slept_ with Sasuke.

 

After her initial shock settled down, she slowly began to sit up to get ready for the day. Only to have Sasuke tighten his arm around her waist and pull her back down.

 

“S-Sasu-“ She was cut off.

 

“Five more minutes.” He grumbled, pulling her closer.

 

And she lets him.  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The next chapter is when it starts to get smutty ;-)


	3. Heating Up

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things between Sasuke and Sakura start to boil... but will they reach the point of no return?

Ever since Sasuke started having nightmares, he always invited her to sleep with him. It was awkward at first, but the two quickly warmed up to each other at night. Over the past few weeks, they learned what positions worked best for them so both could sleep comfortably, which usually depended on the night. Sometimes, Sasuke would sleep on his back, with Sakura’s head on his chest. Sometimes, he would spoon her with his right arm. As long as they were cuddling, they were comfortable.

This doesn’t mean that his nightmares disappeared completely; however, they became less frequent and less intense.

Sleeping together not only meant being comfortable, but getting to know each other as well. They would usually chat before falling asleep. Discussing what they would do the next day, the next village they were heading for, and goals for the trips – until they became tired. As with their natural sleeping patterns, Sakura would fall asleep first, and wake up first. Sasuke, on the other hand, stayed awake later, and slept in.

Sometimes, before falling asleep, they would kiss goodnight. Occasionally, it would turn into passion – their tongues battling for dominance. It usually stopped after a few minutes, Sasuke being the one that pulled back. Sakura yearned for more, and she could tell that Sasuke did too. However, she could tell that he was somewhat nervous to go further. Sakura couldn’t blame him, honestly, because she felt the same way.

Tonight, though, a certain fire in their core pushed them to go further.

Sasuke and Sakura were passionately kissing, tongues intertwining.  The kunoichi ran her fingers through his hair, settling them at the back of his head. She thought he was backing away for air – when he usually decided that was enough for the night. She was pleasantly shocked when he began to direct his kisses to the corner of her mouth, her cheek, and then down her jawline. She couldn’t help but to bite her already swollen lips. When his lips traced their way to the crook of her neck, she squeezed his hair. He could tell that this was a sweet spot for her. He swirled his tongue on this spot before gently biting and sucking.

Her breath hitched before she let out a moan, “Sasuke.”

Sasuke’s ears perk up at this – he never thought that he could be turned on more by his own name. He wants to hear it again, the pit of his stomach filled with need. He continued a mixture of swirling his tongue, biting, and sucking on the crook of her neck. Instead of hearing his name, though, he hears stifled moans instead. Furrowing his eyebrows, he looks up.

She was covering her mouth with the back of her hand.

_This won’t do…_

He stops what he’s doing, causing Sakura to look down at him in confusion. Before she can ask, Sasuke moves her hand away from her mouth.

“Sakura…” His eyes narrowed, “I want to hear you.”

Her emerald eyes widen, face completely red. But, she keeps her hand away from her mouth. Smirking, Sasuke continues his ministrations, but on her other shoulder.

As she moaned, his right arm explored the curves of her body. His fingers played with the hem of her shirt, slowly sliding under it and to the flatness of her stomach. Her muscles twitched under his touch and their panting only became louder. When the tip of his fingers reached the bottom of her bra, he instantly stopped, and pulled away.

Sasuke sat up, shortly followed by Sakura. She was genuinely confused –  _did he not want this_?

“Dear, what’s wrong?” She cupped his face in one of her hands, “Do you want to stop?”

He looked away, blushing, “I don’t want to push you…”

Sakura pouted for a split second, before deciding to take off her shirt. Sasuke’s eyes snapped back at her, completely shocked.

“Sakura, wha-?” He was interrupted.

“I want this, Sasuke.” Her chest was visibly still breathing heavily. She could tell that he was doing his best not to stare (even though that’s what she wanted). In one quick motion, she grabbed his hand and placed it over her covered breast, encouraging him to squeeze, “I want you.”

Without further hesitation, he leaned into her and kissed her lips hard, only backing away to remove his own shirt (with her help). He urged her to lay down again.

Within moments, he was kissing down her neck again. While he licked around her sweet spot, his fingers carefully slid under one of her bra straps, slowly sliding it off her shoulder. He repeated this on her other shoulder as well.   
Kissing down her clavicle, then chest, Sasuke slowly pulled down the cups of her bra until they were below her breasts. He sat up enough so he could look at her body. Her creamy breasts weren’t too big – with petite nipples in the center. While she still had her shorts on, her nakedness caused a stir in his core.

“S-Sasuke-kun… Don’t stare so much…” Her voice brought him back to reality, and his eyes went back up to her blushing face. “I-I know they’re not that impressive…”

“You’re beautiful, Sakura.” Was all he could think to say.

Before she could argue, he pressed his lips against hers. Sasuke brought his hand down to gently massage her breast. Instinctively, Sakura arched her back into his touch. When he kissed down her chest again, she couldn’t stop the moans that left her lips when his teeth found her nipple. Without another thought, she tightened her grip in his hair, wanting more.

Eventually, Sakura guided his head back up to her mouth – longing for him to kiss her. He happily obliged. Her chest pushed up against his as her legs wrapped around his waist. Their hips began to grind instinctively as the kisses deepened, both of them craving more.

“A-ah, fuck…” He hotly moaned into her ear, pressing his hips into her harder.

Sakura bit her lip, meeting his pace. The friction felt amazingly good.

Suddenly, Sasuke realized how  _incredibly hard_ he was.

“S-Stop.” He abruptly halted and held Sakura’s hips down with his hand, cursing more.

“What’s wrong?” Sakura was still catching her breath. She traced one finger down his chest, towards his pants, “You don’t want to continue?”

Sasuke inhaled deeply, closing his eyes to gather his thoughts. He gently grabbed her wrist and kissed her hand.

“Another time. Let’s sleep now.”

While it was faint, Sakura swore she saw the ends of his mouth quirk up. She smiled back at him and pulled him down for a slow, deep kiss.

The two got comfortable, the night’s stars twinkling above them, Sakura falling asleep first.

 

**Two**  weeks later, they found themselves heated up again.

They set up camp in a cave, since it was raining outside. The fire was roaring, cooking their food.

However, food was the last thing on their mind.   
Their shirts were already off, both of them completely topless. Between their body heat and the fire, both of them were sweating profusely.

When Sasuke felt like Sakura was satisfied with the attention he gave her breasts, he slowly began kissing down her stomach.

Oh, he had plans for tonight. He was feeling confident, and he planned on using it.

Sakura kept her fingers in his hair, watching tentatively and he moved lower and lower. When he hooked his fingers on her pants, and tugged at them, she eagerly helped him take them off. She figured he wanted to be closer when they started their usual grinding.

His mind was focused on something else.

Sasuke started by kissing the inner part of her left knee, moving down her thigh. His hand rested near the bottom of her left thigh. Her eyes widened as she realized what was happening. Before she knew it, his face was drawing nearer. Her legs snapped shut out of reflex when his thumb caressed her core over her panties.

He looked up at Sakura, worried that he went too far.

She gulped, “S-Sorry… It’s just… I’m really sweaty right now, and I haven’t shaved down there so…” Her eyes looked anywhere but at him.

Sasuke moved his face closer to Sakura, gently kissing her, “I don’t care about that.” He softly whispered into her ear, sliding off her underwear.

He slowly went back down, getting comfortable in between her legs.

“I-It probably smells, you really don-,” She was cut off when Sasuke parted her lips, licking slowly from her opening to the top. Sakura let out a loud moan, tugging on Sasuke’s hair. He smirked to himself; he definitely enjoyed this.

He carefully listened to her reactions, figuring out what worked and what she didn’t like. With her guiding his head with her hands, he eventually discovered a specific nub that made her writhe with pleasure. Sasuke watched her face with hooded eyes, completely in awe at how arousing she looked; her eyes were closed, mouth parted – releasing wonderful sounds and moaning his name.  

Eventually, she opened her eyes and glanced down at him. His mismatched eyes locked with her emerald ones. She couldn’t help but to smile a bit, and use her left hand to hold his right one.

As the pace picked up, Sakura could tell she was getting closer. However, she still needed more if she wanted her release.

“S-Sasuke…” She let go of his hand, embarrassed of the request she was about to make, “I-I want you to use your fingers…”

Without hesitation, he pulled his head away from her, and lubricated his index finger with his mouth before slowly entering her. He pushed it in and out of her a few times before adding his middle finger.

Sakura let out a moan of relief, riding his fingers. Her eyes squeezed tight as he added his tongue.

He played with different speeds and motions, until he found that curling his fingers and tapping at her upper wall made her buck her hips and moan even more.

Everything was building up, and Sakura could feel her coil about to burst. Her heart rate sped up, mind racing.

Before she knew it, waves of pleasure finally rushed through her body as she practically yelled out his name.

He pulled his face away from her core after her orgasm, feeling the concluding pulsations of her opening around his fingers.

Sasuke was in absolute awe. He couldn’t stop staring at her as she came down from her high. Before Sakura could tell him to stop staring, he removed his fingers from her core, and passionately kissed her.

While their kissing heated up, Sakura maneuvered so she was on top of him. This was new for Sasuke, but he definitely didn’t mind it. He loosely kept his hand in her hair as she kissed down his neck, chest, and happy trail to his boxer’s waistband, which poked up from under his pants. She quickly pulled down both his pants and boxers, Sasuke lifting himself up so they could slide off easily.

His member practically sprang up in front of her face. Sakura’s eyes widened at it – not out of fear, but more so out of curiosity.  She looked up at Sasuke, causing him to gulp.

“Y-You don’t have to if you don’t want to…” He realized how weird this probably was for her.

Sakura, being the advanced medical ninja she was, had been around male penises before, but this was different. This was Sasuke-kun’s, and not for medical reasons.

She was determined to treat him right.

“I want to make you feel good, Sasuke-kun.”

Sakura placed her left hand at the base, and grasped his shaft with her right. She gave a few test pumps, observing his face as she did so.

Sasuke leaned his head back, and closed his eyes, letting Sakura’s petite hands explore his hardness. He gave words of encouragement, letting her know what levels of pressure felt best. As she picked up the pace, he moved his hips with the beat of her hands.

When she noticed pre-cum dripping from his tip, she slowed down her hands. Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows, and looked down, only to see her enclose her lips around the head.

“S-Shit…” The view was way to erotic, as he felt her wet, hot tongue swirl around him. She slowly started bobbing her head, tightly pumping her hand in rhythm. Sasuke couldn’t help but to grind his hips. The more he got into it, the closer he got, the more aggressive his hips moved.

He eventually pushed himself a little too far down her throat, causing Sakura to gag a little. His eyes snapped open as she backed away, coughing.

“F-Fuck,” Panting, he caressed her cheek, “Are you okay?”

Sakura nodded, regaining composure, “Y-Yeah,” She offered a small smile before leaning down and kissing the head of his dick, “Just be a little more careful, okay?”

He nodded, taking a deep breath.

It wasn’t long before Sakura picked up the pace. Before Sasuke knew it, he was close to finishing. The coil in his core was tightening so much, it was bound to snap soon. It took all of the strength in his body to not thrust into her like before.

“S-Sakura,” He moaned, “I-I’m going to…”

Immediately realizing what he meant, Sakura pulled away just in time for Sasuke to cum on her tongue, forehead, and a little bit that strung over her right eye.

While coming down from his high, Sasuke couldn’t help but to admire her. He gulped, watching her swallow what landed in her mouth.

Not even seconds later, he realized that he made a mess on the rest of her face.

“I’ll be right back.” Blushing, he stood up, rummaging around in their bags until he finally found a towel.

Without saying a word, he handed it to her, and sat back down in front of her.

The first thing she did was wipe her eye, making sure all of it was gone before opening it. She then made a general sweep of her face to make sure she got the rest of it.

“S-Sorry…” He looked away, “For the mess…”

She shook her head, “I-I don’t mind it…” Sakura gave the towel back to him, “Did I get it all?”

Sasuke forced himself to look back at her, analyzing her face. He nodded, not seeing anything. She smiled warmly at him and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.  

“Sasuke… Thank you.”

His heart melted at that - he couldn’t stop the corner of his mouth from quirking up. Really, he felt as though he should be thanking her.

Softly, he reached out to tenderly comb his fingers through her hair. He stopped when he felt a wet spot, though. Blushing, he picked up the towel to clean it up.

“Missed a spot…” Sasuke murmured, embarrassed, “Sorry…”

Sakura almost gasped, her own cheeks flushing.

While he was trying to clean his stickiness out of her hair, he could smell that their food was beginning to burn.

“Shit!” Sasuke stood up, leaving the towel to her. On his way to the fire, he stubbed his toe on a rock, nearly tripping. He honestly felt like a hot mess. Sakura couldn’t help but to giggle at his clumsiness.

After taking the food off the fire, the two quietly got dressed (only asking questions like: “where’d you put my bra”, etc.), then ate their slightly charred dinner.

 

**Again** , two weeks later, the two found themselves heating up again.

The two were already naked, and Sasuke had just finished making Sakura cum with his mouth. He feverishly kissed her lips, grinding his cock against her core.

He kissed down her cheek towards her ear, “Fuck, Sakura… I want you so bad. You’re so wet.”

Sakura moaned, his words turning him on more, “M-Me too… Sasuke… I want you in me…”

He pulled his head away, blushing, eyes wide, “C-Can I? Is it okay?”

She nodded, “D-Do you have a condom?”

Sasuke’s shoulders visibly slumped as he hung his head in defeat, “…shit.” He hadn’t even thought about that.

Sakura started laughing, wrapping her arms around his shoulders, “Anata,” She giggled, “You know how we’re going into that nearby village tomorrow? We can get some then…” Her voice trailed off.

Sasuke nodded, burying his face in her neck. He gently began to nibble at the skin there, showing he was far from done for the night. Sakura dug her nails into his back while letting out a whimper.

Suddenly, he flipped her over so she was on top of him. Using his strong arm, he was able to pull her up so she sat directly above his face.

“S-Sasuke? What are you doing?” Her eyes widened in shock.

“Dessert.”

“E-Eh?” Before she could even comprehend, he began licking her folds.

_I-In this position? But I’m so heavy…_

Sakura had to admit, though, it felt really good.

However, she remembered that Sasuke had already pleasured her for the night, and she hadn’t done anything for him. The kunoichi sat up more, deciding to turn around. The Uchiha furrowed his eyebrows, not happy she pulled away from him. When she turned around and bent over, he continued where he was before.

That is, until he felt her mouth on his manhood.

Sasuke dug his hand into her ass, letting out a hallow moan. He could almost hear Sakura snickering at him.

Oh, he wouldn’t lose this easily.

The two went hard at each other, almost as if they were having a competition to see who would finish first.

Sakura almost thought she would lose first when he curved his fingers just right inside of her. Sasuke thought the same when she swirled her tongue around him in the way he liked.

Ultimately, Sasuke was able to make Sakura cum first. He knew she was getting close, so he picked up his pace. Out of breath, she pulled her mouth off of his cock, moaning loudly, practically shaking above him. She arched her back, the release hitting her harder than before.

As she rode out the waves of pleasure, Sakura motivated herself to suck him in time with her own pulsations.

Sasuke lost his own control at this – his mind imagining that his hardness was where his fingers were. He finished, roughly squeezing her ass with a curse.

This time, all of it went into her mouth. She maneuvered so she was no longer sitting on his face. He expected her to spit out his seed – only to find out that she swallowed it. He couldn’t help but to gulp at the erotic sight of her wiping the corner of her mouth, then licking it off her thumb.

Sakura wrapped her arms around his neck, now sitting on his lap. Sasuke lazily rested his hand on her hip. She smiled at him, drawing imaginary circles along the nape of his neck.

The two kissed ever-so-gently before laying down, the night sky above them.

Except, neither of them could sleep all that well – the reality of what they had planned for the next day heavy on their minds.


	4. Anxious

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke and Sakura finally make it to the village, but they're both extremely nervous about their plans.

The day after was extremely awkward for the two to say the least. They ate their breakfast in near silence, and walked towards the next town without saying a word.

The anxiety of what the agreed on for today was almost overwhelming, leaving the air around them very heavy. Not to say that either of them didn’t want to engage in their plans for that night; they both definitely wanted that. However, neither of them were quite sure what to expect from it. The uncertainty of it all was deep in their minds.

_What if I’m not good enough for him?_

_What if it hurts? I don’t want her to be in pain…_

_What if he decides we’re moving too fast?_

_What if I finish too early and she doesn’t even feel good?_

Their thoughts circled and circled, even when they decided to stop to eat for lunch. Again, it was silent.

Despite the pressure of it all, Sakura decided to speak up.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun… How far away are we from the village?” She glanced at him, packing their utensils.

“We should be there by dinner.” The Uchiha stood, offering his hand to help her up. Sakura took it, a gentle smile on her face.

As they continued to walk, Sasuke didn’t let go of her hand, somewhat reassuring her. The heavy air slowly lifted the longer that time passed, and the two were able to relax a bit.

That is, until they finally reached the small village.

The two let their hands go as they approached it; Sakura knew Sasuke wasn’t as keen on pubic displays of affection, especially with their plans.

“Where do you want to eat?” Sasuke glanced at the restaurants around them.

She waved her hand in front of her face, smiling, “It doesn’t matter to me. Anything sounds good.”

“Yakisoba?” He suggested the closest building. Sakura nodded, not really caring – her mind was elsewhere.

Similar to before, the two ate their food in silence, paid, then left.

It was already dark when they stepped outside.

“Where should we set up camp for the night?” Sakura looked at him inquisitively.

Sasuke turned his head towards the center of the village, “I was thinking we should get a hotel tonight. It’d be troublesome to go way out of town, just to come back to search for more leads and to gather more supplies.” (Maybe, it was his way of trying to be romantic?)

“A-Ah, yeah, let’s do that…” Sakura was thankful his head was turned away so he couldn’t see her blushing.  

Little did she know, but his cheeks were just as pink.

The two wondered in the village for a bit, eventually settling on simple motel with decent prices and a decent looking facility.

As they waited in line to check in (there was one person ahead of them), Sakura noticed a little shop selling medicine and snacks.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun,” She nodded her head to the shop, “I’m going to see if they have any medicines that we should stock up on.”

Shortly after walking over there, the kunoichi found what she was really looking for.

In red, gold, and black packaging, the label read SHINOBI STRENGTH CONDOMS. Sakura picked up the small box, seeing that it had five lubricated condoms that were “durable”, yet they felt “invisible”. With her cheeks a little rosy, she purchased them, then walked back over to Sasuke.

He had just finished getting the room key when she approached him.

“We’re in 146.”

She nodded, and the two headed down the hallway, following the signs until they got to their room. Sasuke unlocked the door, letting Sakura go in first.

She was thrown off for a split second when she realized there was only one bed, but ultimately decided it’d be wasteful for them to have two beds, since those rooms tend to cost more.

A _ **bed**_.

Sakura tossed her bag to the side, practically throwing herself on it. “I can’t believe we’re actually sleeping on a  _bed_  tonight, Sasuke-kun!” She couldn’t help but to giggle, “Don’t get me wrong, sleeping on the floor doesn’t bother me, but having a bed every once in a while is so  _nice_.”

“Hn.” He cracked a small smile, setting his own bag down.

She sat up, looking at the door across from the foot of their bed, “And a  _warm shower!_ ” She was grateful she wouldn’t have to quickly bathe in a cold river. Sakura stood up and walked over to the bathroom, “In fact, I’m going to use it now. I won’t take too long so you can shower too.” She offered him a warm smile before closing the door.

As Sasuke removed his cloak, he could hear the water start, along with soft hums. He decided that his choice to stay in a hotel would be good for them – help them relax a bit.

He mindlessly flipped through the five channels on the small television, eventually settling with the news.

Ironically enough, they were talking about Konohagure; a small special over the “Great War Hero – Naruto Uzumaki”.

_What’s Dobe going to gloat about…_

He didn’t even realize the water had stopped running until Sakura emerged from the bathroom. She had a small white towel wrapped around her body, and another one wrapped around her hair.

There was a soft tinge of pink in her cheeks, embarrassed that she forgot to grab clean clothes to change into. In the end, she came to the conclusion that it didn’t matter since Sasuke had seen her naked before.

“It’s your turn, Anata.” Sakura smiled sweetly at him, walking towards the bed.

Sasuke nodded and stood up before walking to the bathroom, blushing himself.

She sat down as the door closed. Sakura snorted when she saw the TV was on, specifically with a special about Naruto. Rolling her eyes, she used the remote to turn it off.

No offense to her friend, but seeing the blonde wasn’t what she needed to get in the mood.

When Sasuke came out of the bathroom, towel wrapped around his waist, he couldn’t help but to gulp at the sight of her in front of him. She had fallen asleep, the towel in her hair loose. The opening of the linen around her body nearly exposed all of her.

He walked over to her, gently kissing her lips. As she woke up, Sakura immediately melted into the kiss with a soft, content hum. Toned arms wrapped around his neck as he climbed onto the bed, his towel falling off in the process. The kiss became more passionate, and it didn’t take long before their tongues began battling for dominance.

Sasuke momentarily lifted his head for breath, only to redirect his kisses to the corner of her mouth, up her jawline, then down her neck. When he reached the crook where her neck and shoulder met, he paid special attention to the spot she liked. Sakura moved one of her arms from around his neck and weaved her hand into his head, gently guiding him lower to where she wanted him.

“Impatient, are we?” But he obliged, kissing down her chest and removing her towel, “Shouldn’t we savor the moment?”  

She gulped, easing up her grip, and letting him decide where to kiss her.

Now that she was completely exposed, Sasuke began to knead her left creamy breast, his mouth swirling around her right nipple. As it hardened, he began to suck and nibble at it.

Sakura let out gentle moans and it was like music to Sasuke’s ears. However, he knew that he could make her louder.

He kissed down her stomach, his hand trailing behind. Eventually, he got to the little tuft of pink. Sasuke gently rubbed his thumb over her lips, causing Sakura to suck in her breath with anticipation. He used his index and middle fingers to spread her open before taking a long, languid lick. She exhaled with a deep moan.

_That’s more like it…_

He swirled around her opening, slowly inserting his tongue, before licking up to her clit.

Since his first time doing this weeks ago, he learned the patterns that drove her crazy.  He sucked on the nub of nerves briefly before circling around it. He quickly picked up a steady pace, inserting his fingers for good measure. He curved them just right inside her.

As his rhythm picked up, so did Sakura’s moans. She ground into his face, grip tight in his hair.

If he felt this good with just his fingers, she could only imagine what it would feel like when he was actually inside her.

The thought of that tipped her over the edge, and she came a lot earlier than either of them expected.

Proud, Sasuke hoisted himself up so he could feverishly kiss her. As per usual, Sakura rolled Sasuke onto his back so she could pleasure him.

Sakura began to kiss down his neck, biting and sucking hard over his clavicle. Sasuke was grateful that his clothes covered that spot. She sat up, smiling at her mark.

Slowly, she licked down his chest and stomach, leaving a wet path behind her. He didn’t dare look away as she grasped his cock, licking closer and closer to where he so desperately needed her.

When she got to black curls, Sakura lifted her head and tantalizingly kissed the tip. The moan that escaped his lips made her bite her lower lip with a smile. She definitely liked making him melt at her ministrations. Sasuke almost made a snide remark but was ultimately cut off when her lips wrapped around the head. He leaned his head back, letting his hand relax in her soft, still damp, hair.

As her tempo quickened, his grasp in her locks tightened. Her hot, wet mouth felt so incredibly good around his member. His cock throbbed every time her tongue swept over his sensitive spot, aching for more. She could taste the saltiness of his pre-cum as it dripped out, and the swallowing motions she made with it drove Sasuke absolutely mad.

He could tell that he was getting close – just a few more sweet bobs of her pretty head and he would cross the threshold. His eyes snapped open at just how dangerously close he was.

_No. Not yet. Not like this…_

He put his hand under her chin and lifted it up, signaling that she should stop. Sakura could tell that he almost climaxed by how hard he was breathing. He slowly lifted her head to his mouth so he could kiss her with all of the passion that was inside him. Gently, he shifted so he was on top of her. When he aligned himself at her core, he realized something was wrong. It didn’t feel right. Then it hit him.

_The condoms…_

“Fuck!” He cursed loudly, resting his head on her shoulder, “We completely forgot to grab condoms!”

Sakura giggled, running her hands through his hair, “Don’t worry, Anata, I bought some while you were checking us in. They’re in my bag.”

Relief rushed through his body as he hurriedly stood up and practically ran to her bag. He clumsily unzipped the bag, grateful that Sakura was so damn  _smart_. Just as soon as he left, he was back, and handed the little square packet to her to open (as it would be difficult to do with one hand).

Sakura carefully opened the plastic, handing the condom back to Sasuke to put on himself.

He blushed, not really recalling how to use it. Sure, they had to go through sex education at the Academy – which included contraceptives – but Sasuke had spent the lessons day dreaming. He always figured that when he did finally sleep with someone, they wouldn’t use protection because of restoring his clan.

Now, not ready to have a child, but ready to do the actions of making one, he completely regretted his past.

Sakura quickly caught on after a few seconds of Sasuke just staring at the lubricated condom. She sat up.

“Oh, uh,” She began, holding the condom towards the light, “First you want to check to make sure there are no holes or tears, since that would make wearing a condom pointless. Then, you figure out which way the condom rolls.” She put the condom over her finger, rolling it down by half an inch to see if it was facing the right way, “Next, you place it over the head of the penis while pinching the reservoir. If you ejaculate into it, and there’s air, it could pop.” She used Sasuke’s penis as the example, doing as she said, “Then, you roll it down.”

Sasuke’s face became a little redder, but he shrugged it off. Putting on a condom would be hard with one hand; he figured Sakura would most likely put it on him each time. Though, he didn’t mind that.

He couldn’t stop himself from kissing her when he saw her gentle smile. The two went back to their previous position, Sakura’s head softly landing on the plush pillow under her.

Sasuke gently caressed her cheek, feeling himself at her entrance. He gave her a questioning look. She responded by flashing the same gentle smile from before.

Slowly, he pushed into her.

She was so incredibly tight around him; he couldn’t help but to groan. His cock throbbed, and he inched in further.  When he heard a muffled cry, he opened his eyes expecting to find a face filled with pleasure.

Instead, he found one filled with pain.

Sasuke immediately stopped with his heart racing. It wasn’t supposed to be like this… she wasn’t supposed to feel bad.

“Shit, I’m so sorry…” He began to pull out, but she wrapped her arms and legs around him.

“N-No!” Sakura shook her head, “Don’t. I just… need time to adjust. We need to go slow.”

He nodded and began to pepper her face with gentle kisses before settling at her lips. After a few moments, pain turned into comfort, and she encouraged him to move. They did this; moving, stopping, moving, stopping, until he was completely sheathed inside her.

She smiled up at him before experimenting with her hips. The moan that escaped his lips enticed her to move a little faster, Sasuke eventually meeting her pace. When he moved, it was her turn to moan, the comfort turning into pleasure.

With every thrust, it felt like Sasuke was taking her breath away. The room suddenly became incredibly hot, their bodies sweating as a result. It was filled with nothing but the sounds of their whimpers, groans, and the sound of skin slapping skin. Her head was spinning with a thousand emotions at once. Love, lust, and everything in between. She felt like she was on top of a mountain with adrenaline pumping through her veins that increased with every movement.

Again, Sasuke could tell his climax was quickly building up. Though, he absolutely refused to finish before she did. His picked up the pace and kissed at the sweet spot on her neck, slightly changing the angle of his thrusts.

“R-Right there!” She couldn’t help but to pull his hair to the point where it hurt (somehow, he enjoyed the pain). She pleaded for him to not stop, begged for him to keep going.

He couldn’t stop it. With a deep groan, he aggressively came into the condom.  Within seconds of his first spurt, she clenched around him while screaming his name. The two breathed heavily while riding out the rest of their orgasms, hers completely milking him.

Sasuke’s lips crashed against her with fervor, his mind focused on one simple thing.

“I love you.”

Her eyes widened at his gentle whisper. The tears that had formed while making love spilled over her cheeks when she blinked.

“Wha-“

“I’m serious.” He used his thumb to wipe her cheeks, “When most people were willing to give up on me, you were one of the few who still believed in me. You helped save me from the darkness, from death. Sakura,” His own voice choked up, “I love you.”

She wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him down for a tight embrace, sobbing. “Anata, thank you.” Sakura didn’t attempt to hide her tears of joy, “I have always loved you, Sasuke. I always will.”  

When they settled down, Sasuke finally pulled himself out from her. She showed him how to properly discard the condom, then the two slept peacefully that night


	5. Cherry Cake

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura helps Sasuke celebrate his birthday

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been wanting to write this FOREVER! Sorry it’s been so long! School got busy, I got sick, and then the holidays rolled around lol. Regardless, I feel like this is my best chapter yet!!!!! Hope y’all enjoy this as much as I enjoyed writing it~

 

Onyx eyes slowly fluttered open to the scent of smoked fish and miso soup cooking. He rolled over, expecting to find his lover next to him, only to frown at the lack of her absence. Of course, she was by the fire, preparing food. Who else would’ve been preparing a meal?

The shinobi slowly sat up, wiping the sleep from his eyes.

“Good morning, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura smiled warmly at him, flipping one of the filets. “Or, I guess I should say afternoon.”

“Hn.” Sasuke stood up before walking over to her, “You woke up early.” While it was a statement, he meant it more of like a question. He sat down next to Sakura at watched the flames cook their food.

“Yeah. I thought it would be nice to make breakfast for you.” She leaned her head against his shoulder, “After all, it is your birthday.”

“Ah.” He couldn’t help but to lean into her touch; it had become a natural reaction for him, “Thanks.”

“You’re welcome.” A giggle escaped her lips, “I also have a small gift.”

The Uchiha raised his eyebrows at this. Honestly, he wasn’t expecting much of anything – he couldn’t even remember the last time he received a birthday gift. Sheepishly, Sakura brought out a pair of his pants, pointing to a seam where a hole had previously been.

“I know you’re not really into physical gifts. So I figured you’d want something more practical.” She looked away, “I know it’s not much, bu-“

“Sakura,” His eyes softened, “Thank you.” He took the pants from her.  
It was such a small gesture, but one he greatly appreciated.

After the two ate their food, they packed up and continued on their journey. They were in a comfortable silence, when they heard a familiar hawk screech as it flew towards them.

Sasuke held his right arm up for the bird to land on, and Sakura daintily grabbed the note that was around its foot. After dismissing the bird, Sakura handed him the note. It had very familiar, messy handwriting.

_Hey Teme! It’s your birthday and I just wanted to wish ya a good one! I hope you have a happy 21st, especially with Sakura-chan! Speaking of which, I’m gonna give you a tip… Consider it a birthday present. You should try showing her some affection. Maybe hold her hand? She really likes ya, y’know._   
_Anyways, take it easy today!_

        _N & H_

Sakura giggled at the note, Sasuke letting out a snort. If he knew that the two had been sharing a bed for the past 3 months, doing more than just sleeping…

The idea of what his reaction would be was highly amusing to the two.

“Well, we can’t disappoint Naruto, can we?” She chuckled, holding out her hand.

“Hn.” He smiled, weaving his fingers through hers, giving a gentle squeeze.

-

Night quickly arrived for the two, and they decided to settle in a nearby cave. After a typical dinner, Sasuke sat by the fire and watched the flames dance. A few moments later, once finished with cleaning up (she insisted since it was his birthday), Sakura leisurely sauntered over to him. She slowly lowered herself onto his lap, resting her hands behind his neck. She drew gentle, tantalizing circles.

“Your birthday isn’t over yet.” The pinkette teased him with gentle kisses around his ear, hot breath causing goose bumps on his skin, “And I really like you, yknow.” She was quoting their friend with a smile across her lips.

“Is that so?” Sasuke settled his hand on her rear, drawing her closer, a smirk on his own lips.

“Yeah, I like you _**so**_ much, Sasuke-kun.” She pushed her hips into him on the emphasized word, “I wanna do _**things**_ with you.”

His pants became tighter, “What kinds of things, Sakura? Be clear.” His voice was almost a hiss as she pushed against him again.

“Naughty, bad things.” Her kisses trailed to his cheek, “I want you take me anyway you want. I want you to make me yours tonight,” She pulled her head away so she could see the desire in his eyes, which was reflected in her own.

“Sa-su-ke,” She stressed each syllable, the last one going up in pitch, “kun.”

Before she could even gather what had happened, Sakura was pushed onto her back. A gasp attempted to escape her mouth, but she was cut off when his lips came crashing down on hers.

Clothes were off in a matter of seconds, practically torn from their bodies. Sasuke kissed down her neck and chest, his tongue flicking out to taste her skin. Her hands gripped his hair when his mouth enclosed around her pert nipple. His right hand gave attention to the other one.

Sasuke’s legs were in between hers, and she used them to relieve the friction where she so desperately wanted him. Getting the picture, he started kissing down her stomach, then past pink curls. He went to kiss her folds, but quickly changed direction and went to her thighs.

“Sasuke!” She protested with a groan, “Don’t be mean.”

“Hn.” He smirked.

“Stop tea-“ She stopped mid-word when he used his index and middle fingers to part her folds.

“You’re wet.” It was a simple observation.

“A-Anata…” She could feel her cheeks flush and heart race.

For good measure, he used his thumb to spread said wetness. He gently pulled his thumb away, a string of her juices following. “Really wet.”

“Please…”

That was all he needed to hear. Sasuke dipped his head and licked painfully slow – from her opening up to her clit. Sakura closed her eyes, and leaned her head back with a small moan. His tongue swirled around the nub just the way she licked. The kunoichi bucked her hips against him, urging him to use his fingers. He kindly obliged.

He could feel her walls tightening, signaling that she was close. Sasuke took his mouth away, causing a moan in objection.

“Sakura. Look at me when you cum.” He kept the pace with his fingers the same.   
Embarrassed, emerald eyes locked with black and violet. The two maintained eye contact as he continued with his mouth. Her hips continued to buck against his mouth, her breath in sync, growing high in pitch as she got closer. Sakura fought the urge to squeeze her eyes shut as the orgasm rolled through her body, fingers pulling dark locks.

Sasuke’s pace slowed down as he helped her ride out waves of pleasure. However, he never stopped. Confused eyebrows furrowed down at him, unsure by his goal. When he was positive that the sensitivity of her orgasm had faded away, he sped up his ministrations.

Desire slowly began to build up again, his intentions clear. Her mind spun as the intensity of his tongue mixed with the power of his fingers controlled her body.

“Fuuuuck.” Her voiced quivered as she pushed her ass off the ground, reaching for her finish. Sasuke struggled a bit as he raised his head with her, speeding up. Her nails danced between clawing at the ground and pulling his head deeper into her core. Ultimately, they settled with with tugging at his hair.

Breath caught in her throat, she unraveled before him for the second time that night. Her orgasm rolled through her muscles, and she laid back down on the ground.

Sasuke sat up, sliding his fingers out of her with ease. She was panting, chest still red. He held up slightly pruned digits, separating them so she could see the result of their actions. Her eyes met his when he slowly licked the juices.    

“You’re perverted.” Was all she could think to say.

“Hn.” His smirk was devilish.  

Despite her statement, she reached her arm out to him. Locking fingers, he helped her sit up. Sakura’s soft lips quickly met his, letting him know how good he did. As she slipped her tongue in his mouth, she wrapped one hand around his cock. He responded by moaning into her mouth, tightening his grip in her other hand.

She pulled her mouth away from his, their noses still touching. His lips remained parted, panting against her mouth. “Making me cum twice…” She sucked his lower lip, letting it out with a small pop. “I’m the one who’s supposed to be pleasuring you, y’know.” Her pumps picked up in speed.

“Tch. You don’t understand.” Sasuke leaned his head to the side as Sakura kissed down his chest, her hand still relentless. “Making you moan for me, feeling you tighten around me…” Their eyes met as her mouth closed around his cock. “It drives me mad.” His jaw clenched as her little, wet tongue swirled around the sensitive part of him.

His knuckles turned white as he squeezed her hand more. The Uchiha didn’t dare look away as she changed her movements to lick up and down his shaft. The way precum was starting to bead from his slit, the way her eyes looked up at him in the most sinister way (obviously, his words inspired a newfound confidence in her) … it was all way too erotic.  

Sasuke released his grip from her hand, moving it to her neck (but not squeezing). He coaxed her back to his mouth. Though his thoughts were anything but, his kisses were gentle.

As she leaned back, Sakura’s hand reached out beside her to find her pants. Sasuke lifted himself up, allowing her to grab what she was looking for. With a smile, she opened the square packet and removed the latex condom. After she properly rolled it on him, she wrapped her arms around him as he aligned himself at her entrance.

Sasuke could tell that she wanted him to kiss her, but watching her mouth fall open with satisfaction when he pushed inside her was incredibly gratifying. It wasn’t until he was completely within her that he rewarded her with a deep, passionate kiss. He started with a gingerly pace, lazily allowing his cock to burry inside. When she pushed her hips against him, he moved faster.

The two stayed in this position for a while, their body heat, sounds, and scent filling the room. Feeling his climax getting close, Sasuke suddenly pulled out, causing a confused look from Sakura.

“Get on your hands and knees.” He was panting.

Blushing, she did so. This was their first time in a position other than missionary. She was both excited and nervous. He gently pushed her head down, so only her ass was in the air. Sakura turned her head to the side so she could look back at him.

Yeah… He’s definitely a pervert.

Though, when he slowly re-entered her, her moan was anything but innocent. In fact, Sasuke discovered that she was the perverted one with his next few pumps. While massaging her plump asset, still pounding into her, his thumb so-happened to graze her other opening. The gasp that escaped her lips caught his attention and he diverted his gaze her face, ready to apologize for accidentally crossing a boundary.

Instead, she was biting her lower lip, eyes squeezed shut. She didn’t look uncomfortable at all – if anything – he thought she wanted more.

To test the waters again, he ran his thumb over her pert hole, circling around it a few times. She responded by eagerly smacking her ass against him more.

Oh, she wants this?  
Sasuke retreated his hand and sucked on his thumb. Just when she thought he was done teasing her, the pinkette suddenly felt a second fullness.

Even though the Uchiha only went in to his first knuckle, the hollow moan that she let out echoed off the walls and went straight to his cock.

Before Sakura could comprehend what was happening, her walls tightened around Sasuke, encouraging him to move faster. High pitched moans and curled toes signaled that she was incredibly close.

Coil finally snapping, she dug her nails into the ground. The only reason why Sasuke pulled his thumb out instead of riding it with her was to catch his lover as her quivering legs gave out.

“Fuck, Anata.” She panted, “What was that?”

“Hn.” He chuckled, leaning over to kiss her back, “I could ask you the same.”

“Dirty man…” Sakura rolled over so she could properly kiss him.

“You enjoyed it.”

Instead of making a retort, Sakura snaked her tongue into his mouth. A strong arm went under her back to lift her into his lap. Instead of settling there, he pulled her down so he was on his back and she was on top of him. The look he gave her told her exactly what he wanted.

“Eh?” Emerald eyes went wide as her face flushed, “B-But I don’t know how to be on top…”

“I believe you said that I could take you anyway I want,” He smirked, thumb drawing imaginary circles on her hip, “Am I misquoting you?”

With an embarrassed pout, she pressed him back inside of her. Sasuke used his hand to help her find a comfortable pace that felt good to them. She started out with her hands on his chest, but ended up moving them to his legs to reach a better angle.

The view of her perky breasts bouncing, mouth wide open with gasps, almost made Sasuke unwind right there. However, as her legs were still weak from before, she couldn’t hold this position for very much longer. Before long, she was bent over him with her head against his neck.

Sasuke understood that he needed to move if he wanted to finish with her. Hand on her ass, his pumps became animalistic. He was quickly climbing the steps to completion, but knew that she still had a while to go. To speed things up, he brought his hand around to her pink curls and used his finger to apply pressure to her clit.

She clenched around around him, moaning his name. For the fourth time that night, she came around him. This time he joined her, with sweet grunts leaving his lips.

Completely spent, Sakura practically collapsed on top of him, causing his member to slip out of her. Sweat caused their bodies to cool down and their breaths eventually returned to natural.

“What inspired all of that?” Sakura nuzzled into his neck. His arm wrapped around her.

“You.”

She snorted, “I meant what you did with your thumb.”

“You practically begged for it.”

“Did not!” She sat up, pouting.

This time he chuckled, “Did you like it, though?”

Eyes darted away from him. Wasn’t the answer to that obvious?

“Sakura.” He grabbed her attention again, “Thank you for spending my birthday with me.”

Of course, Anata,” She kissed him with a giggle, “We should go to bed, though. I’m exhausted.”

Sasuke agreed, and the two got comfortable for the night, getting out blankets to keep them warm.

“Goodnight, Sasuke-kun.” Sakura closed her eyes, “I love you.”

He responded by gently tapping her forehead.


	6. Cherry Tomato

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sakura hasn’t been feeling well too lately, so Sasuke convinces her to see a doctor.

_The bright sun beat down on Sakura as she worked in their garden. She hummed softly to herself with pride as she admired the cherry tomatoes. They were almost ripe enough to pick, maybe in a week. Her attention turned to her husband as he opened the back door to their patio, a glass of water in hand. With a smile, he held out the glass for her to take, “It’s hot out.”_

_“Thank you, Anata.” A giggle surfaced from her lips, “The cherry tomatoes should be ready soon.”_

_He simply nodded, stoic as ever._

_Suddenly, Sakura felt a sharp pain go through her stomach._

 

Her eyes fluttered open, the pain slowly fading. She pouted, realizing that she had been dreaming.

Her lover (definitely not husband – they had only been romantic for about six months) had his eyes closed, still deep in slumber. A smile replaced her pout, while she wanted to marry him, she was content with where they were.

Eventually, the stomach pain she felt earlier slowly turned into nausea. She decided that going to the bathroom might help alleviate her pain. Sakura sat up, carefully moving Sasuke’s arm from around her. He grunted, not happy with the lack of warmth.

“It’s cold…” He never opened his eyes.

“I’m just going to the bathroom, Sasuke-kun.” She whispered, brushing stray hairs from his face, “I’ll be right back.”

With a frown, his body relaxed again.

She had to admit – that was adorable.

Shortly after finding a decent spot, the nausea only got worse. Her stomach wrenched and last night’s food splattered across the ground. When finished, she let out a disappointed sigh as the acid burned her throat. Sakura hoped it was just her stomach acting up with acid reflux (it occasionally happened when she slept on her back) and not a stomach bug or food poisoning. The last thing her or Sasuke needed was falling behind because of getting ill.

The pinkette walked back to where they were camping and washed out her mouth with some water to help get rid of the taste. Eventually, she laid back down, Sasuke wrapping his arms back around her.

Sakura concluded that she must’ve had food poisoning because she vomited shortly after breakfast. Upon returning from the forest, she discovered that Sasuke had everything put away already.

“We should stop at a doctor’s office in the next village.” He looked up at her, “That’s the second time today, right?”

“Eh?” She was shocked, thinking that she was able to hide it, “It’s probably just something I ate last night. It’ll only get better with time, so a doctor won’t be necessary.” Sakura let out a giggle, “Though, visiting a village would be nice so we can stock up on other things.”

Sasuke nodded, then stood up, “Alright. Let’s go then.” He wouldn’t push her to go. After all, she knew her own body the best.  

Shortly after beginning their journey, Sakura took out some onigiri to snack on. She felt well enough to eat and was actually hungry. This made her hopeful that it was just something she ate.

She was wrong.

Very wrong.

Right as they approached the village, Sakura found her stomach lurching again. This time, it completely caught her off guard. Luckily there was a trashcan nearby. Furrowing his brows, Sasuke held her hair out of her face.

“Maybe a clinic wouldn’t be a bad idea after all…” She sighed, standing up straight. Sasuke rested his hand on the small of her back to try and comfort her. 

Once in the actual village, Sasuke noticed a fairly decent inn. “Let’s spend the night here. It’d be good to avoid the elements since you’re sick.”

Sakura couldn’t help but to feel guilty, “I’m sorry about this. I should’ve been more careful about what I ate.” Tears brimmed at her eyes, “I know you don’t like staying in the same place for long…

_What the hell? Why am I crying over this?_

Sasuke raised an eyebrow, “It can’t be helped, Sakura. Let’s get checked in, then go to the doctor.” She nodded with a sniffle, following him to the inn.

After getting situated in the room, they found a village map to go to the nearest doctor. Luckily, there weren’t a lot of people, so the wait was only an hour. Sasuke made a comment about how that was long, but Sakura said that wasn’t too bad since they didn’t make an appointment beforehand.

While filling out her paperwork, Sasuke stared into the TV. He wasn’t necessarily watching the contents of it as much as he was daydreaming. He almost didn’t notice the little patters running in his direction. When he looked down, a toddler was clumsily walking by him. He assumed the child had just learned to walk based on her uneven steps. Sakura happened to glance towards his direction when the baby almost tripped, but ended up reaching out to Sasuke’s leg for support. Instinctively, he reached his arm out to steady her.

Sakura giggled, and momentarily wondered what it would be like if Sasuke was a father.

To their child.

A blush crept across her cheeks at the idea, but quickly faded as the mother came over and profusely apologized for her daughter. The two quickly reassured her that it was fine.

After returning the paperwork to the receptionist, she sat back down next to Sasuke, in one of their comfortable silences. Sakura could feel herself slowly nodding off. Despite her best efforts, she ended up leaning her head on Sasuke’s left shoulder. While he felt shy at the display of affection, he didn’t want to wake her up.

“Haruno-san!”

“Sakura, they’re calling for you.” Sasuke gently nudged a sleepy Sakura.

Her head shot up, and she walked towards the nurse, shooting Sasuke an apologetic expression for falling asleep on him like that.

Once in the examination room, they weighed Sakura and got her vitals before the doctor came in.

“Miss Haruno,” He was a cheery, older man with a curly gray beard. He almost looked like Santa, “According to your charts, you’re in for nausea and vomiting, yet you don’t really have a fever. Can you tell me what other symptoms you’re experiencing?” 

“Well, I’ve been extremely tired as well, now that I think of it.” She put a finger to her lips, “But that might be due to traveling so much… but that also happens when I’m about to start my period, which might be coming soon since I’ve been cramping. I’ve also had headaches and a little dizziness, too…” She let her thoughts trail off.

“Ah,” He looked down at his charts, taking notes, “When was your last menstrual cycle?”

“Maybe two months? They tend to be a little irregular at times. Once I went four months between cycles.” She shrugged.

“Are you sexually active?” He moved forward to gently press his fingers on her neck’s lymph nodes.

“Y-yeah.” A faint blush fluttered across her cheeks.

He took out his stethoscope to examine her breathing and heart rate, “Are you on birth control or use any other contraceptives?” He raised an eyebrow when she flinched as he touched it to her breast.

“Sorry, they get a little tender when I’m about to get my period,” She took a deep breath, “And just condoms.”

He had an idea.

“Alright, Miss Haruno. I’m going to need you to lay on your back. I want to do a quick scan of your body using my chakra.”

Sakura complied. Usually, medical nin didn’t do this unless it was a complete physical. She figured it wouldn’t hurt, though. The doctor held his hands about six inches away from her chest and focused chakra to his hands until a faint green began to glow from them.

Immediately, he could tell that her chakra was off.

Slowly, he moved his hands down until they were at her lower abdomen.

His suspicions were confirmed. He sat down, writing more notes in her charts.

“Well, you don’t have food poisoning and you don’t have the flu.”

“Huh?” Sakura’s eyes furrowed.

“You’re pregnant.” He wanted to be careful about this, since not every person wants to hear this news, “I’d say you’re seven weeks along now.”

Green eyes went wide, “W-What?” Instantly, her hands went to her stomach so she could check for herself.

It was barely there, but she could feel the tiny heartbeat and sense a second chakra presence.

Honestly, Sakura had no idea what to say. Yes, she definitely wanted a child. Yes, she wanted to bear Sasuke’s children. In fact, she had spent a lot of growing up fantasizing about this.

_But this soon._

They had just started becoming intimate. She had no idea how Sasuke would feel about this.

She was pulled out her her daze when the doctor held out a prescription along with some pregnancy information pamphlets, “Take this prescription for prenatals and other medication to help the morning sickness to a pharmacy tomorrow and they’ll be able to fill it within a few hours. Since you’re a renowned medical nin, I’m sure you already know a lot about this process, but the pamphlets might be good to go over with the father. I’m assuming he’s the one who was in the waiting room with you?”

She nodded, still speechless.  Of course she knew all about the process of pregnancy; she had even delivered a few babies. But, this was completely different.

“If you have any questions, or need any support through this, our number is on the back of the prescription paper.” His expression was sincere, realizing her not-so-excited reaction, “We do offer termination and alternative services if that’s needed.”

Sakura gulped. Would Sasuke-kun even want to keep the baby?

He stood up, “Be careful out there. I’m wishing you the best of luck.”

She mumbled a quiet thank you, standing up herself. A nurse escorted her back to the front of the clinic, towards the waiting room.

Sasuke’s attention was immediately drawn to her as she approached him. Her pale face and lost appearance instantly let him know that something was not right. He gave her a concerned look, which she immediately dismissed.

“Everything’s alright, Sasuke-kun.” Her smile was obviously fake, “We just need to drop off my prescriptions tomorrow morning since the pharmacies are closed now.”

He nodded, standing up. He wouldn’t push her – she would tell him whenever she was ready.

“Anyways, let’s get some food. I’m starving.”

They walked towards the clinic exit, “What sounds good?”

“Hm, maybe curry? I think I saw a restaurant towards the inn.”

While at the restaurant, Sakura ordered butter chicken curry, and Sasuke ordered spicy pork.

Upon smelling Sasuke’s food, her mouth instantly watered, “Can I try yours?”

“But you hate spicy food…” His eyebrow raised, “And wouldn’t it upset your stomach more?”

Her expression was absolutely heartbreaking, “Please, Anata?”

Shrugging, he pushed his plate towards her so she could try it, “Only take a small bite. It’s pretty hot.” Ignoring him, she bit into a spoon full.

“Ohmygosh!” She gasped, “This is delicious! Can we trade?”

“Sure…” While he thought the butter chicken was a little bland, this seemed to cheer Sakura up a bit more, so it was worth it.

Maybe her mood from earlier was just exhaustion?

After paying for their meals, the two headed to the inn. The moment that they stepped into the small room, Sakura found herself running towards the bathroom to empty her stomach out. The spicy food irritated her stomach just as Sasuke predicted. Being the caring man that he was, Sasuke held her hair back as acid stung her throat.

Lurching turned into sobs as the reality of everything washed over her. She wasn’t sick: there was no “bug” and no “poisoning”. She was pregnant, and had no idea how Sasuke would react. She absolutely did not want to lose him, but she didn’t know if she wanted to keep the baby. Of course, if Sasuke wanted to keep the baby, she would gladly.

What would she do if he didn’t want anything to do with their child?

Sakura didn’t even realize she was shaking until Sasuke wrapped an arm around her, peppering kisses to the top of her head.

“Sakura,” His voice was gentle as her eyes met his, “Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

She knew she couldn’t keep it away from him any longer. She needed to tell him.

Nodding, her hand rested on his cheek, “Go wait on the bed. I want to clean up first.”

He understood, helping her up before leaving the bathroom.   
After brushing her teeth, Sakura simply stared at her reflection for ten minutes. It was almost like she was having an out of body experience. Was this really happening? Was this all just a horrible dream? What will she do if Sasuke doesn’t want to keep the baby? What will they do if they decide to keep it? Raising a child isn’t exactly an easy job.

Either way, it had to be done.

During this time, every possible explanation for this ran through Sasuke’s mind, all with the same conclusion – she’s dying. He was going to lose the woman he loved.

She took a deep breath after exiting the bathroom and seeing the Uchiha sitting on the bed, waiting for her. His eyes, though he tried to hide it, displayed fear and grief. Sakura took the empty spot next to him, looking at the wall to gather her thoughts. While in the bathroom, she prepared for his reactions, but never thought about how to say it.

“Saku-“

Her head snapped in his direction, tears streaming down again.

“I’m pregnant.”

 


	7. Connected Feelings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke's reaction to finding out Sakura is pregnant.

 

**_I’m pregnant._ **

First, relief washed through him – so she wasn’t dying. Then the meaning behind her words rang through Sasuke’s ears, vibrating through his body in a panic. He felt numb at the news.

“The condoms…” Was all he could mutter after five minutes of silence.

Sakura diverted her eyes from his gaze, “There might’ve been a small hole, or it could’ve broken during… There’s no way to know…” The tears only streamed down her face faster, “I’m so sorry, I should’ve been more careful, I should’ve paid closer attention…”

The two sat in silence, Sasuke feeling every emotion at once.

Ten minutes passed. The only sound that filled the room were her sobs.

He didn’t know what else to say. He almost got up, wanting to take a walk to help clear his mind; to sort through it all. Her next words changed his mind.

“I-If you don’t want to keep it, I-I understand…” She was hiccupping now, “The doctor said we could terminate the pregnancy if- “

“What?” Sasuke furrowed his eyebrows as Sakura looked up at him. Her expression absolutely broke his heart and he realized that, in this moment, he needed to put his insecurities behind him to support the woman he loves, “Do you want to keep… the baby?” It was weird for him to say.

And weird for her to hear.

Sakura nodded, “Do you?”

“I want to.” He laid down on the bed, encouraging Sakura to join him. Once she was nuzzled into his chest, more minutes passed until he gathered his thoughts, “I never knew if I wanted children after my past sins. I also figured no one would want to have children with me either – I felt like I never deserved that happiness. But since we’ve started traveling, the idea of having a family with you…” Sasuke had the smallest smirk on his lips, “I think about it a lot.”

Sakura could only cry harder – so he had been thinking the same things as her. And to hear her stoic partner admit it…

“Anata…” She wrapped her arm around him tighter, “I was so scared…”

“Hn.” He rested his head on hers reassuringly.

After a few moments of silence, the images of raising a child with Sasuke made her giggle.

“We’re going to be parents.”

“Yeah… When are you due?”

“Mid to late April. I’m about seven weeks along.”  

He pressed a kiss to her crown, “We shouldn’t have the baby while on the road. We need to head back to Konoha.”

“I think so too.” She relaxed into his arm as he drew imaginary circles on her back.

“I also don’t want you to sleep on the ground anymore. We need to plan our travels so we can go from village to village to stay at inns.” He thought for a moment, “I think we can also take a few trains. It’ll take longer, we’ll maybe be there by late March. It’ll be the safest route, though.”

“Anata…” She frowned, “I really don’t need all this special treatment. I should be fine…”

He scoffed, “I refuse to put you two in any danger.”

Sakura giggled at the idea of Sasuke being a protective father, “We’ll need to send a letter to Kakashi-sensei saying that we plan on returning in March. I don’t want to tell him why... It should be a surprise.”

“We can send a hawk tomorrow.”

“I wish I could tell my parents, though…” She sighed.

“How do you think they’ll react?” If Sasuke was being completely honest, he didn’t know much of anything about her mother or father.

“I think they’ll be shocked, but not too angry. They just want me to be happy and healthy, y’know?”

“Ah.” It was reassuring.

A few moments of comfortable silence fell between the two, sleep quickly approaching them after such a taxing day. It was broken by Sasuke’s quiet voice. In fact, if he had waited a few more minutes, she wouldn’t have been awake to hear it.

“Let’s get married.”

“What!?” She sat up, completely thrown off guard,

“I mean it.” His face didn’t move, eyes still closed, “Tomorrow. Let’s go to the village center and fill out the paperwork.”

“Sasuke-kun…” She frowned.

Mismatched eyes opened to look at her, “Do you not want to?”  

“It’s not that, I want to…” She sighed, “But I don’t want to rush into something like that just because I’m pregnant.”

“I want to do this because I love you and our child,” He rolled over to his side to face her, “If we have a child, I want to do it right. You deserve to have a husband to help.”

Sakura’s eyes went wide and she covered her mouth. He wiped away the tears that attempted to roll down her face.

“Will you be my wife, Haruno Sakura?” He decided to make the proposal sound more official.

She nodded, pulling Sasuke into a passionate kiss. Tears only fell harder when she realized that would be one of the last times she’d be referred to as a Haruno.

When the kiss ended, she gazed into his eyes. The happiness was evident in onyx and violet hues.

“I love you.” She barely whispered it.

He responded by kissing her forehead.

After about half an hour of silence, Sasuke almost fell asleep. Until he heard giggles from his now fiancé.

“Sakura…” He was tired.

“Sorry, Anata.” She giggled again, “It’s just… I’ve been dreaming of this day for so long! I’ll try to sleep now.”

“Hn.” He stiffened when more giggles surfaced, “Annoying…”

She gasped, “Are you calling your pregnant fiancé  _annoying_? Y’know my hormones can make me cry really easy, right?”

“Go to sleep.” He wrapped his arm around her, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

The next morning, Sasuke surprisingly woke up first. Sakura was facing him, eyelashes fluttering as she dreamed. Her chest rose with every small breath she took, soft lips gently parted – practically begging to be kissed. Of course, he obliged.  She smiled, stretched her shoulders, only to relax and fall back asleep. 

It was in this moment that he decided that she would be the death of him.

Carefully, he got up as not to wake her. They had about three hours until they needed to check out, and he figured her body should get as much rest as possible. He’d wake her up in two hours if she wasn’t already.

He got into the shower, letting the hot water run over his body. Sasuke couldn’t help but to wonder how his family would’ve reacted to all of this. He assumed Itachi and his mother would’ve been the happiest, and his father a little disappointed he was marrying out of the clan, and having a child before marriage. Regardless, he still would’ve supported them and would probably dote on the child.

As he washed out the shampoo, Sasuke chuckled to himself. The idea of making his brother proud of him…

_It was **nice**._

After drying himself off, he wrapped the towel around his waist and re-entered the bedroom. Snores indicated Sakura was still asleep.

As quietly as he could, he got dressed. Part of him told thought that he should go out and get breakfast, but the other half said to wait for her to wake up. After all, he had no idea what would settle well in her stomach. Instead, he began mapping out their return back to Konoha.

When it was time to wake her up, he did so by gently brushing his thumb over her forehead, moving stray pink strands. Her hair was getting longer, he noticed. He didn’t mind it either way, honestly.

“Sakura,” He whispered as green eyes fluttered open, “It’s time to wake up.”

“Hm?” She pulled the blanket over her shoulder more, not wanting to get out of bed yet, “How much longer do we have until check out?”

A reversal in character?

“An hour.” He knelt down next to her, “You should shower.”

Eyebrows furrowed in anger, “Are you saying I stink?”

“You know that’s not what I mean.”

“Hmph!” She turned around, making it clear she was not happy with his statement.

Sasuke sighed and laid down next to her, wrapping his arm around her, “Please turn around…” Slowly, she did, and he continued, “It might feel good since you got so sick yesterday.”

“Okay, okay.” Sakura relaxed in his arm, tilting her head up with a pout, “I will if you give me a kiss.”

It was a small peck, but enough to satisfy her. Giddy, she practically jumped out of bed and headed towards the bathroom. Sasuke had a small smirk.

(While showering, Sakura abruptly had to get out so she could empty her stomach. The perfumes of the hotel’s shampoo made her nauseous.)

Once they were both ready and packed, they went to a pharmacy for Sakura’s prescriptions and had a small breakfast at a local bakery (the bread was incredibly mild, and actually settled in Sakura’s stomach). Then, they found the village’s head to fill out the marriage license.

The process wasn’t too difficult. Paperwork filled out in front of a witness there, and they were done. The only thing that caught them off guard was how the official told them that he had to send the marriage license to Konoha’s Hokage since they were outside of the country, and because of Kakashi’s request for official documents involving Sasuke to be sent to him. Ideally, they didn’t want to announce this to anyone and have it be a surprise, but they figured it couldn’t be helped.

Honestly, Sakura couldn’t care less about that in this moment. All she could think of was how wonderful it felt to write “Uchiha Sakura” on the document.

“Congratulations, Mr. and Mrs. Uchiha.” The official bowed to them with a soft smile, “Be sure to show those documents if you happen to need things with your old name on them.”

The Uchiha’s bowed back before turning to leave. After picking up the prenatal vitamins, they sent a letter to Kakashi notifying him that they would be returning in late March/early April.

Holding hands, the two ventured into the next village, as husband and wife.

~

Kakashi sighed, incredibly bored with the piles of paperwork in front of him. He would much rather be doing… well, anything else, really. He rested his head on his hands, letting his eyes close.

“Oi, wake up.” An annoyed Iruka chimed from a small table across the room. He agreed to work on his own papers from the Academy with the Hokage to keep company, “The longer you wait, the more you’ll have to do and you’ll be here later.”

“What do you you want to do for dinner?”

“Don’t change the subject. I’ll answer that when it’s time to leave.”

Kakashi sighed, right when someone knocked on the door.

Thank kami… a distraction…

“Come in.” He picked his pen up, making it look like he was hard at work. A messenger nin walked in, handing Kakashi a rolled up message, “It’s from Uchiha Sasuke’s hawk, sir.”

Nodding, Kakashi took the paper before reading its contents.

 

  _We’re returning. We’ll be back in late March or early April. You’ll get another message when we’re a few hours away._

_-S_

 

“Huh?” The Hokage was puzzled. They hadn’t even been gone for a full year, and they were returning already? Maybe it didn’t work out how they wanted… but why would it take them so long to get back? It was only October, so they could’ve easily been back by January.

His thoughts were interrupted as another knock was heard. Since the door was open, Kakashi simply nodded the Konoha official in.

“It’s a document about Uchiha Sasuke, Lord Hokage.” She handed him the thick piece of paper.

Kakashi had to read it over a few times to fully comprehend what was happening.

They eloped?

…

“ _Oh_.” It was in understanding. He couldn’t help but to smile under his mask with a soft chuckle, “Thank you, you two. You’re dismissed.”

The two bowed before leaving the room.

“Is everything okay with Sasuke and Sakura?” Iruka couldn’t help but to be worried about his former students.

“Yes, in fact, they’ll be back in about five months.” He gazed out the window, eyes drawn to the changing leaves that surrounded the village. Kakashi left it at that, not wanting to share news that wasn’t for him to share.

In fact, the next generation may be here before we know it.

 


	8. Cravings

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke deals with Sakura's pregnancy cravings.

_1 AM._

Sasuke couldn’t believe he was walking back from the convenience store in the small village that their hotel was located in at  _one in the freaking morning_ …in December. He protested at first, but her sad little pout was too much to resist.

The (tired) Uchiha begrudgingly sighed as he unlocked the door. Sakura was sitting up; obviously she was really looking forward to this. He handed the food to his 20-week-pregnant wife, “Here’s your request. Natto and orange cream-sickle ice cream.”

Emerald eyes practically beamed at him with excitement as she took the food, “Thank you, Anata! You’re the best husband a girl could have.”

“Hn.” He smirked, removing his cloak. His face of love quickly turned into repulsion; especially when he saw Sakura grab chili flakes from the side table (did she put those there while he was gone?) and mix it with the smelly natto. This shocked Sasuke for two reasons: 1) He despised natto, the smell and texture were awful and, 2) Sakura has always hated spicy foods.

He watched her in half amazement and half disgust when she ate the natto in a matter of a few minutes.

Deciding to get comfortable, Sasuke undressed down to his boxers. He was still exhausted after being abruptly woken up to buy groceries.

Sakura couldn’t help but to gawk at her husband. The way his muscles contracted and relaxed with his movements as he stripped. Fuck, it was hot. The pinkette didn’t even realize she was staring until he raised a confused eyebrow.

Suddnly confident, she put down the natto and sat on her knees, drawing imaginary circles over her thighs. “Y’know, we haven’t done it since we found out I was pregnant…”  

Sasuke became more confused, “I didn’t think it was safe to.” 

  
“Oh, it’s safe.” Sakura bit her lower lip as she slowly crawled towards the edge of the bed. She could hear him gulp, “It won’t hurt the baby or anything like that. In fact…” Toned arms wrapped around Sasuke’s neck and played with black strands of hair, “I’m incredibly horny, Sasuke-kun. So why don’t you take care of that?”

Sasuke’s lips crashed into Sakura’s the moment she finished her sentence. The two fell onto the bed, with Sakura breaking the kiss to giggle. Apparently, Sasuke was just as needy. Soon, his lips were back on his wife’s.

The moment their tongues met, Sasuke pulled back, tasting the natto. Trying to not look suspicious, he kissed her cheek and down her neck.  

He failed, and she noticed.

“Sasuke-kun, why won’t you kiss me?” She pouted as tears formed, “Am I that disgusting to you?”

“You know that isn’t true,” He sighed, closing his eyes in defeat, “It’s the natto.” 

“So you think my cravings are gross?” Sakura cried in to her hands, pushing him away.

“Sakura…” His facial expression became more gentle. He moved her hands away from her face, using his thumb to swipe away her tears, “I just don’t like natto. That’s it.”

“Okay,” She finally calmed down, “Sorry about that. I kind of over-reacted, didn’t I?”

“Hn.” He gave a small smile before gently feathering his lips over hers. Sakura could feel her heart flutter and breath stop at the kiss. As she felt him pull away, she quickly weaved her hands into his hair and pushed him back into her.

Their hips pushed against each other as Sasuke kissed down Sakura’s neck. This time, there was no objection. He sucked at her collarbone, which earned him a very desperate moan.

“I don’t want foreplay,” She moaned, pulling his head up to her, “Please just fuck me.” Emerald eyes pierced through mismatched onyx and violet.

He growled, practically ripping off her panties and his own boxers.

“Do we, ah, need a condom?” He felt stupid for asking the question.

Sakura shook her head, putting pillows under her rear for a better angle, “No. I won’t get more pregnant.”

He was already achingly hard, but he pumped himself a few times for good measure as he aligned himself at her core. Slowly, Sasuke entered her with a groan. Once he was completely sheathed, Sakura reached out for him. It was a little difficult to hold himself over her baby bump with one arm, but the kiss they shared was worth it. He set up a gentle pace.

“Mmm,” She sucked at his lower lip, “ _Harder_.”

In order to go at the speed that she wanted, Sasuke had to sit up. He pounded into her, reaching out for her swollen breasts. The definitely grew, which he enjoyed.

Her face contorted into pain and she moved his hand, “S-Sorry, Anata. They’re really tender.”

Now he wished they were back to normal so he could touch them again.

Sasuke settled with placing his hand on her hip, grinding deeper into her. She rolled her head back with a moan and sped up their pace. He had to push her hips down to steady her.

“ _Fuck, Sakura_ ,” His pants filled the room.

_Not yet._

Blatantly ignoring him, she weaved her fingers through his, forcing him to let go, “Please, Sasuke-kun, I’m so close. I want to feel you cum in me.”

She didn’t need to say more. Within five, greedy pumps, he emptied himself into her with loud grunts, with her following suit. A soft oh escaped her lips at the new, warm sensation.

_Yeah, she liked it._

Sasuke leaned down, giving her a deep, passionate kiss. At this point, he could care less that she tasted like natto and chili flakes. He eventually pulled out and flopped down next to her. Sakura giggled, rolling over to look at him.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun?”

“Hn?” He rolled over to his side to face her as well.

“I love you.”

Sasuke reached his arm out, gently tapping her forehead with a smile, “Let’s get some sleep.”

She kissed the tip of his nose with a giggle before turning around so he could spoon her.

That’s when she saw _**it.**  _

The tub of ice cream. They had left it out without even putting it in the fridge.

Sakura dramatically gasped and sat up, scaring Sasuke.

“What is it? Are you okay?” He immediately was worried about the baby. Was I too rough?

“The  _ice cream_!” She picked up the tub, gently shaking it. To her horror, it had completely melted.

At this point, Sasuke was preparing for her to start crying, and that he’d have to go out and buy more.

She shrugged, “Oh well.”

He let out a sigh of relief, “I was worried you would cry again.”

“Oh?” She sent a death glare full of malice, “Do you think I’m still some cry baby? I’ve changed since we were genin, y’know!” Her lips were pursed in an angry line. “I can’t believe you’d say that!”

“I…” He was speechless.

As in some act of defiance, she opened the small container of ice cream, and drank it’s melted contents.

Sasuke simply blinked. Was this her throwing a pregnant temper tantrum?

Setting down the tub with a thud, she practically threw herself onto the bed and faced away from him. Sasuke sighed, wrapping his arm around her.

“No.” She protested, moving his hand, “You’re not allowed to touch me. You pissed me off.”

“Tch…” He rolled over to his back. He almost called her annoying, but knew that he’d have hell to pay for.

Fifteen minutes later, as he was about to fall asleep, she quickly rolled over and rested her head on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry, Anata…” Sakura pouted, “Please hold me….”

Sasuke almost snorted as he snaked his right arm under her neck, comfortably holding her head on him.

“Do you forgive me?”

“Of course, Sakura.” He closed his eyes, ready for sleep. By now it was 3 AM.

“Do you still love me?”

“Yes,” His eyes fluttered open, “I still love you, my wife. And I’ll still love you as the mother to our child, too.”

Content, she kissed his cheek before relaxing into his arm, “Goodnight, Anata.”

~

The next morning, Sasuke was woken up by Sakura shaking him.

“Anata, wake up, it’s the baby!”

“What?” He sat up in a panic, her words registering with him, “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” She grabbed his hand, placing it over her belly. He almost narrowed his eyes to glare at Sakura, until he felt movement. He would’ve moved his hand in surprise if she hadn’t kept it there, “She’s kicking.”

He sat there, completely amazed. His thumb grazed over Sakura’s stretched skin lovingly as he felt another kick.

“Wait… she?” He furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

“I have a gut feeling we’re going to have a little girl.”

He chuckled, “Well, she seems like she punches and kicks pretty well. She’ll be strong, just like you.”

“She’ll have your quickness. Probably your stubbornness, too.”

“Hn.”

Sakura traced her fingers over Sasuke’s knuckles, the two gazing into each others eyes in a quiet, loving moment. Only to be broken by her stomach aggressively growling. Sakura couldn’t help but to laugh, “I guess she’s hungry.”

After eating a small breakfast at the Inn, the two checked out and headed towards to train station.

“You’re sure an overnight train is okay?” Sasuke glanced towards his wife.

“I’m not glass, just pregnant.” Sakura chuckled, “Besides, you said we could get a cart with a bed for nighttime, right?” He nodded in affirmation. It was a bit pricier, but he wanted to make sure she was comfortable.

Shortly after purchasing the proper tickets, the two boarded the train, immediately finding their room to drop off their heavier bag. Then, they migrated to their actual seat on the train. Sasuke went to let Sakura in first, figuring she’d prefer the window seat.

“You can have that seat, Anata.” She smiled while rubbing her swollen stomach, “I have a feeling I’ll probably have to use the bathroom a lot. She’s laying right over my bladder.” With a wordless nod, he sat down first, with Sakura to his right.

Within twenty minutes of the train leaving, she let out a heavy sigh, drawing an inquisitive expression from her husband.

“I’m craving Natto…” She frowned.

With his typical cool expression, Sasuke reached into his bag to pull out a small plastic box that had a thin plastic top, with the magic word on it.

“When did you buy Natto!?” She gasped, grabbing the container and chopsticks.

“I went ahead and bought a a few since we’d be on the train for a while. I figured you’d want some.” He then handed her a small packet.

“You even remembered the chili flakes?!” She thought she could cry, “Anata, you’re the best!”

He couldn’t hold back a small smirk and blush as she kissed his cheek before ripping off the cover and graciously eating the fermented beans. Before he knew it, all of the food was gone. He could only hope that would satisfy her until tomorrow, as he only had one box left.

Towards the beginning of the train ride, Sakura ended up using the bathroom three times in two hours (thanks to their child being positioned over her bladder), while Sasuke calmly read a parenting book that she suggested.

Eventually, she nodded off into a soft slumber. His checks flushed to a soft pink when her head found its way onto his shoulder. It’s not that he despised public displays of attention; he just thought things like this were better done in private. However, the idea of waking her up so she could readjust didn’t sit so well with him. She needed to rest as much as possible, and if this was comfortable for her, he’d put up with it. Plus, he didn’t want to deal with any possible mood swings that could occur.

Sakura went between sleeping (the first time she woke up, she apologized for her head resting on him, but he reassured her it was fine), peeing, and reading between meals on the train. As the sun set, she stretched her arms above her head.

“I’m getting kinda tired and sore from sitting here,” She smiled with a yawn, “Are you ready to go to our room?”

He nodded, not feeling too exhausted yet, but he figured he’d just hold her until she fell asleep. Maybe even massage her back if it was sore.

Upon closing the door behind them to their room, Sakura made it blatantly clear that she had very different, less innocent intentions. She aggressively pushed Sasuke into the door. Before he could even ask what she was doing, pink lips pressed against his in heat. He immediately melted under it, switching their positions for more control. His hand wrapped her left leg around his waist for better access to smack her rear.

Hard.

She let out a yelp in pleasure, Sasuke growling in response. While the distance to the bed was very short, they managed to void themselves of their annoying garments.

The two joined into one almost immediately after landing on the bed. After playing around with a few positions, Sakura decided she was most comfortable laying on her side, since sitting upright for so long did cause her back to ache. Sasuke was directly behind her in a spooning position, using his right hand to hold her leg up.

Not only was this a lot more comfortable than being on bottom or top, but it was beyond sexy. There happened to be a mirror on the wall, so she could watch her husband as he fucked her relentlessly. Eventually, their eyes met in the mirror and Sakura noticed that he had activated his sharingan.

Obviously, he enjoyed it to the point of never wanting to forget this feeling. She bit her lip, wanting to make sure this would be a good show for him.

As he sped up, his cock slammed against her g spot. Her moan came out almost in a scream.

“ _Fuck, Sakura_ ,” He almost hated himself for saying the next part, “Keep quiet. These walls are thin.” His words came out in labored pants.

She reached out for a pillow, the blanket, anything that she could shove into her mouth to stifle her moans. She knew there was no way she’d be able to stay silent. However, the pillows ended up on the opposite side of the bed, and the blankets were contorted in such a way that she couldn’t move them. As she felt her orgasm building up, she needed something fast.

She ended up settling for his left bicep.

Sakura sucked and bit over his gauzed skin as waves of pleasure rolled through her body, her moan successfully stifled.

With a few curses, Sasuke followed after, his coil bursting. She couldn’t help but to shiver as his warm seed spilled inside of her.

Sweating and panting, he carefully pulled out of her. Sakura let out a soft whimper at the emptiness. She turned her head towards him, their lips meeting in a gentle, passionate embrace. Slowly, she completely faced him, her swollen bump creating a little more distance.

When they parted, she couldn’t help but to giggle as his right eye flickered back to normal.

“That was nice.” She rubbed her thumb over his bottom lip.

“I thought we were going to sleep.”

“What? Did you want me to say what I wanted in front of everyone?”

He didn’t answer out loud. Obviously not. She giggled again with another gentle peck to his lips. A few moments of silence fell between the two before he softly spoke.

“What should we name her?”

She brought a finger to her nose, “Hm… I’ve been thinking of that too. I like the idea of sticking with Sa since both of our names start with that, and maybe three syllables too. I’m not sure what to use for the rest of the name, though.”

“Sarada.” It was almost an immediate answer, “The ra is from your name, and da is from Itachi.”

“You’ve been thinking of that name for a while, haven’t you?” Sakura chuckled, “When’d you pick it?”

“A week after you told me.” His index finger drew circles over her belly, “But what if we have a boy?”

“Sakuda.” She smiled, “I think that would fit.”

Content, Sasuke kissed her forehead, “I like that. Sarada or Sakuda.”

“Our child.”


	9. Cherry Blossoms

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It's Sakura's birthday!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> God sorry this took so long to update!!!! I ended up getting a splint on my thumb, and my dad & bro visited me for a week! I’ll try to upload the next chapter soon, since my mom & stepdad are visiting for about 10 days starting on thursday! Also, sorry if there are any typos. My neighbor was my prof-reader, but she moved back home to the states so we’re on different time zones :,) Anyways, thanks for being patient!!! <3

Pink petals slowly floated down from their trees, their soft, floral perfume flowing in the wind around them. The warmth of the sun gently wrapped around their bodies, which was a nice change from the previous rigid months. They really didn’t even need a jacket at this point.

Sakura let out a sigh of content, her hand absently tracing circles over her swollen belly. She was 8 months along at this point, but they would be in Konoha in two days, so neither of them were too worried about that.

They were about five minutes away from the next village, their next overnight stop. Despite the fact that it was only noon, Sasuke insisted they stopped here since the next village was a few more hours away. Even though she protested against it (she really just wanted to be home), her sore feet made her give in.

“Hey, Anata,” She glanced up at him, “What do you want to do for lunch?”

He shrugged, “Your choice. It’s your birthday, after all.”

Sakura couldn’t hide the smile across her lips. This was his first time mentioning her birthday today, and she honestly thought that maybe he didn’t know what day it was. She wrapped her hands around his arm and leaned into his shoulder with a giggle.

She couldn't see it, but he was smiling too. Of course he didn’t forget.

“Hm…” She thought for a moment, “I think katsudon sounds good! Is that okay with you?”

He nodded, “Yeah.”

Before they could even see the small village, a messenger hawk approached them. Sakura let go of Sasuke’s right arm so he could hold it out for the bird to land on. Sakura carefully took out the rolled up messages from around the bird’s legs. Then, it flew away.   
Barely glancing through the pages, she could easily see that there were three different senders.

The first was from Ino.

_Hey forehead!_

_Just wanted to wish you a happy birthday! Even though you missed my wedding six months ago… and I haven’t heard from you since you left… But Kakashi-sensei told us you’d be back within a few days. Here’s a little update from us: I’m five weeks pregnant, and Temari is four months along! You and Sasuke better not fall far behind us, you hear? ;) Don’t think I’ll let you off the hook so easily! I expect to hear ALL the dirty little details when you return!_

_Love, Ino and Sai_

The next, of course, was from Naruto.

_Sakura-chan!_

_Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday to you! Happy birthday dear Sakura-chaaaaaan! Happy birthday to yoooooou!!!! I hope spending your birthday with the teme is everything you could ever imagine, and I hope he’s treating you well. If not, I’ll kick his ass (not like you couldn’t do that yourself, but still!) Anyways, we’ll see ya in a few days!_

_N & H_

The last came from Kakashi.

_Happy birthday, Mrs. Uchiha. Don’t worry, I haven’t told anyone. I figured that was something you’d want to tell the others. Safe travels, you too. ~Sensei [drawing of Pakkun]_

Sakura sniffled, wiping away a tear. She truly was grateful to have such amazing friends who cared about her so much.

“Are you crying?” Sasuke furrowed his brows. The way he said it would’ve sounded mean to a passerby.

“Quit teasing me, Sasuke-kun!” She playfully elbowed his side as she put away the letters, “I’m pregnant and emotional.”

“Hn.” He rested his hand on her lower back, “Let’s see if we can find a katsu restaurant in this village.”

Upon arriving in the village, the two were happy to see that the first restaurant they saw served what they wanted. Sasuke ordered a chicken katsu set, while Sakura got katsudon.

“I still can’t get over how good that katsudon was! Thank you, Anata.” She smiled as they walked towards their assigned room at the inn they just checked into.

“Of course.” He nodded, unlocking the door. After walking in, she put her bag on the floor and sat on the bed.

“Now what?” She rolled her head to stretch her neck. Even though her bag was significantly lighter than Sasuke’s (he refused to let her carry anything heavy) it still weighed on her shoulders. “Do you wanna just relax here for the night?”

“Actually, I was thinking we could go out and buy some things.” He set his own bag down before resting his hand on his hip.

“Like what?” Sakura was confused – they really didn’t need anything. They’d be in Konoha soon.

“Well, since it’s your birthday…” He glanced out the window, “We could buy some baby things. Not a lot since we should still travel light…”

Emerald eyes opened in excitement as she practically sprang up from the bed, “I’d love to do that!” She grasped his hand, quickly pulling him out of the room, “Let’s go!”

It took them a while to actually find a place that sold nursery and infant items; Sakura had almost given up hope. Then, she saw a familiar sign “AKANIN”, which was a popular store in the Land of Fire.

Sakura couldn’t stop her giggles as they walked through the store – this was incredibly fun. One thing they saw were diaper bags.

“Oh, Anata.” She picked up a brown one with teal and white polka dots, “We should get this and put things we can comfortably fill it up with. That way we don’t have to worry about filling up our backpacks. We can buy more this way.”

He nodded, motioning towards the cart, “Is that the color you want?”

She glanced back at the other single-colored ones, “Yeah. This is the last one with print on it.”

They continued on a bit more, finding baby slings and carriers. She touched the fabric of a few slings, then looked at the carriers.

“Hm,” She pursed her lips, “The carriers have more support, but the slings are a lot cheaper and lighter…”

“Which one do you like better?”

“I’m not sure. I like the support that this one has,” She pointed to a pricier carrier before pointing at a navy blue sling, “But this one would be nice in summer since it’s lighter, and it’s cheaper.”

Without a second thought, Sasuke put both in the cart.

“Sasuke! That’ll be too expensive.” She frowned, “We can get a cheaper model…”

“It’s fine.” He wouldn’t back down on this, “What’s next? Formula?”

She sighed, looking around, “No, I think I want to try breastfeeding instead.” Her eyes stopped at clothes, “Let’s look at outfits for her!”

He nodded, following his wife to the aisle across.

Sakura giggled at pink tutus and purple frills, but Sasuke reminded her that they should go with something more gender neutral since they didn’t know the child’s actual sex. With a pout, she went over a few rows to find something more suitable.

“What about this?” Sakura held up a maroon qipao onesie that had white trimmings and soft black pants.

Sasuke let the smallest smile crack through – their baby’s outfit would practically be the spitting image of Sakura, no matter who they looked like physically.

“I like it.”

The two picked out a few more similar outfits, socks with animal print (birds, tigers, and pandas), and a 3 blue pacifiers with an elephant, bear, and smiley face on it. After finding a plush green and yellow blanket, cloth diapers, and a plain forest green breastfeeding cover (just in case their baby were to get hungry in public), it was finally time to check out. As they put the basket down and the cashier scanned the items, Sasuke didn’t even notice the chipper old lady asking them questions about the pregnancy. He was too focused on an eight inch, stuffed, black cat. All he could imagine was their tiny child holding it.

Sakura happened to see this. With a small smile, she picked up the toy and handed it to the lady to scan.

The price of everything… definitely caught Sasuke off guard. It’s not that he couldn’t pay it, he inherited quite a bit from the Uchiha clan and still received compensation from Konoha for his traveling missions. He simply wasn’t used to spending this much money in one go.

It was worth it.

Sasuke carried the bags skillfully with one arm. After getting dinner, they finally returned back to the inn. Though his facial expression was neutral, Sakura could tell by his eyes that Sasuke was glad to be back.

“I could’ve helped you carry that, y’know.” She rested her hands on her hips with a gentle smirk.

“Don’t worry about it.” He sat on the bed, resting his eyes. Sakura chuckled, sitting down next to him. She wrapped her hands around his arm and laid her head on his shoulder. Slowly, they eventually completely relaxed under the covers, clothes lazily removed.

Sakura traced her fingers along Sasuke’s chest, giggling at his little shivers, “Sorry we can’t, well…” A small trace of pink fluttered across her cheeks, “Have sex. It’s just so uncomfortable with how big… and fat… I am…” Her smile quickly faded into disgust.

“You know you aren’t fat.” He shot an annoyed glare at her to quickly end that train of thought, “Besides, we did plenty of that during your second trimester to make up for it.”

“I guess that’s true.” She let her hand rest on his, over her stomach.

“Hey,” She smiled at him after a few moments of comfortable silence, “I wonder what personality our baby will have.”

“Hn.” He smiled, “I hope she takes after you. Looks and personality wise.”

“Me?” Sakura snorted, “I can be such a crybaby. Plus, I think your dark hair and eyes are more dominant, genetically.”

“You’re not a crybaby.” He corrected her, fingers drawing invisible circles, “You know how to express your emotions. I like that.” His smirk returned, “And I guess dark hair would be okay.”

Sakura chuckled, another moment of comfortable silence falling between them before she spoke up again. This time, her voice was much softer.

“I’m really glad you let me come with you, Sasuke-kun. I’m so happy I get to spend the rest of my life with you… with our child. I love you.”

Sasuke could feel his heart swell as he kissed her yin seal, letting his emotions shine through his eyes. Sakura fell asleep, the warmth of the two she loved most surrounding them.

_I love you, my wife._


	10. With You

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On their way back to Konoha, Sasuke and Sakura get ambushed by rogue ninja. Sakura ends up needing emergency care in one of Orochimaru’s hide outs.

It was March 30th. The day they were  _ **finally**_  going home.

“Sakura, let’s take a break.” His eyebrows furrowed in concern towards his very pregnant wife. While they had only left the last village only one hour ago, he could tell that she was exhausted. Unfortunately, there wasn’t a train that went directly to Konoha from their direction.

She rubbed her swollen belly with a frown, “We’ve barely walked, Anata. You should be more tired since you’re carrying everything.”

“What you’re carrying is more important.” Sasuke’s expression, while soft, showed he wasn’t going to break, “We don’t need to stress her.”

This time, she giggled. Sakura found it amusing that Sasuke even used feminine pronouns for their unborn child – he was the one who insisted they keep everything gender neutral until they knew for sure. Despite their assumption for a female, they’d be happy with their child no matter the gender. Being healthy was their number one concern.

“Okay, okay.” Her hand swayed in his as she stepped in front of him, “I do need to use the bathroom again.” She pressed a quick kiss on his lips.

“Don’t wonder too far.” Sasuke nodded as she walked towards some shrubs.

As she carried on with her business, Sasuke rummaged through their bags to pull out a wakame onigiri and water. She needed to stay hydrated and full for this trip, as far as Sasuke was concerned.

“Hey, Sasuke-kun.” She emerged from the woods a few moments later, “We should send a messenger hawk to Kakashi-sensei since we’ll be going home today, don’t you think? It’ll probably take us about five hours with my constant bathroom breaks. So we’ll be there by seven tonight.”

“Ah.” He agreed, bringing his right hand up to summon his hawk.

However, right as he was about to use his chakra, he noticed that something was wrong.

_Very wrong._  

In that moment, two rogue ninja appeared. One held Sakura against her will with a kunai to her throat, while the other held one up to her womb.

“Give us yer money or we’ll end  **both**  of their lives!” The two were confident – the pink haired woman was pregnant, and it was obvious that her husband was missing an arm.

They didn’t realize who they were messing with until it was too late.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, quickly activating his sharingan. His frown was filled with pure hatred towards the men who threatened his wife and unborn child.

He moved in, swiftly knocking down the short ninja who wasn’t directly restraining Sakura. This distracted the other enough for Sakura to writhe free from his grip. She was about to deck him when Sasuke quickly grabbed her and moved her out of the way. His glance said it all.

_Don’t interfere._

She watched as Sasuke kicked the tall one’s chest. The short one stood up, running at Sasuke with his kunai in a final attempt to hurt him.

Not on my watch! Sakura was filled with adrenaline as her feet moved before she could stop them.

“SHANNARO!” She focused chakra to her fist, sending the rogue ninja three feet into the ground next to his friend.

“Shit! That’s Uchiha Sasuke!” The tall one came to his senses, grabbed the shorter one, and ran away.

Sakura stood up straight, stretching her aching back as Sasuke swiftly walked towards her. She prepared herself to reassure her worried husband that she was fine, and not hurt.

Instead, she got a different reaction.  

“Sakura, what the HELL was that?!” His anger channeled through mismatched eyes, making her freeze, “I made it very clear that you needed to stay OUT of the way. I had that perfectly handled…”

She was getting ready to retort, when she felt a sudden wetness trickle down her legs.

_Did I just piss myself?_

Sakura glanced down, which Sasuke took as her looking down in shame. Still, he couldn’t stop his emotions from coming through.

Her eyes widened in realization.

“You could’ve gotten yourself killed! You’re in no shape to fight and…”

“S-Sasuke-kun….” She still couldn’t look up.

“No! You don’t get to talk! I’m not done! I ca-“

He was interrupted as her head snapped up, grabbing his collar, and twisting the fabric as a contraction ripped through her body.

“MY WATER BROKE!” It came out as a scream, the pain making her knees buck.

This time, Sasuke’s eyes widened in realization as his arm instinctively caught her.

“Fuck, fuckfuckfuck.” He cursed, looking around.

_It’s here somewhere, fuck, how close are we to it again?_

He was panicking, and he knew he needed to calm down to get her to a safe location. With a deep breath, he activated his sharingan again to stay on high alert. Once he remembered their precise location, he summoned his susano’o arm to pick up his wife.

As fast as he could, he ran to the hide out. Normally, he would’ve just teleported, but he didn’t know if that would be safe. It took about five minutes (at a normal running pace, it would’ve been closer to ten), and he immediately sensed a familiar chakra.  

He aggressively kicked open the door.

“KARIN!” His voice came out sharp, “WHERE ARE YOU?”

Sasuke walked towards the hallway he heard her footsteps approaching from.

When she saw them she stopped.

Sasuke was cradling Sakura.

Who was pregnant.

“What’s-“ She was cut off as Sakura let out another yelp when her second contraction hit her. Sasuke’s grip visibly tightened, and she could see the worry in his eyes.

Karin turned around, “This way. We’ll go to the examination room.”

The walk, only lasting about half a minute, felt like five years to all three of them. It was quiet, and somewhat awkward.

As Sasuke sat her down on the padded table, Sakura finally spoke up.

“You’ll need to get warm water and towels, a bulb syringe, clamps, gl-“ She was cut off when Karin put a gloved finger up to silence her.

“This isn’t the first baby I’ve delivered, so chill.” She glanced up at Sakura over her glasses, “Take your bottoms off. I need to see how far you’re dilated.”

Sakura nodded, feeling a little better about the situation. She slid off her pants and underwear, Sasuke helping when she struggled due to her belly. While this happened, Karin pulled out the stirrups attached to the bed. Once her feet were in place, she properly checked, forcing herself to ignore Sasuke watching from the corner of her eye.

Sakura winced at how uncomfortable it was, but she was grateful that Karin knew what she was doing.

“You’re between three and four centimeters dilated.” She took off the dirty glove, “How many contractions have you had?”

“Two. The first one was right after my water broke, second when we got here. They were a little over five minutes apart, I think.” Sakura’s face was concerned, “The baby isn’t due for three weeks so I’m worried. We were attacked and I might’ve over-exerted myself while we fended them off.”

Karin glared at Sasuke, “You let her fight? Shithead.”

“She rushed in before I could stop her.” He glared back at her.

“Geez….” Honestly, she wasn’t shocked. Karin rolled her eyes and sighed, “Anyways, three weeks early isn’t horrible. I’m not concerned with that. However, rushing into battle probably put a lot of stress on the child.” She grabbed a stethoscope to listen to the child’s heartbeat, then checked Sakura’s blood pressure. “But, it seems like everything is normal.”Karin then hooked the pregnant woman up to various machines just to double check. To everyone’s relief, nothing was out of the ordinary. 

“Because it’s been about ten minutes since your last contraction, and you’re not quite 4 centimeters dilated, you’re still in early labor. Once you’re past 4 centimeters and your contractions are more regular, you’ll be in active labor. You still have a few hours to go, so get comfortable.” She reached in the nearby closet to grab her a blanket and pillow. “You’re lucky I’m here. I was just about to go to a different hide out.”

After handing Sakura the items, she walked towards the door, “I’ll be in the next room preparing things. I’ll check in every hour, but come get me if there are any problems or the contractions become regular.”

Once the door was closed, Sakura relaxed onto the examination table, putting the pillow behind her head and unfolding the blanket over her.

Sasuke gently grabbed her hand, a mixture of anxiety and apology in his eyes.

“It’s okay, Anata. You’re right that I shouldn’t have jumped in like that. That’s probably why we’re in this situation.” Her thumb caressed his knuckles.

“I shouldn’t have yelled.”

She frowned, “If we lose her because of me being stupid… I…” Tears brimmed her eyes.

He quickly moved forward and kissed her forehead, “Karin said everything is fine. Look for yourself.”

Almost forgetting that she was a qualified medical ninja, Sakura moved her hands to their child and quadruple checked. She sighed with relief.

“Not even born yet, and you’re already causing your Mama heart attacks. What a trouble maker.” Sakura chuckled, massaging her bump, “Just like your Papa.” 

“Hn.” He smirked, running his hand through amaranth pink hair. He definitely liked being called that. The idea of their child saying ‘Papa’ made his heart swell.

After a moment of comfortable silence, Sakura spoke up again.

“You should talk to her.”

“Our child?”

_How can he be so dense sometimes?_ Sakura rolled her eyes, “No, Karin.”

“About what?”

“You know just as well as I do that she used to have feelings for you. Hell, she probably still does. This is probably a shock to her, since she didn’t know about us.”

Sasuke shook his head, “I’m not leaving your side.”

“It’s the room next door, not Sunakagure. Now go.” She shooed him away with her hand, “I’ll be able to get more rest without you staring at me.”

Defeated, he got up. Before leaving the room, he gave one more worried glance, “Yell if you need anything.”

Karin had all the tools ready for the next few hours. In that sense, she was over prepared. Mentally, she was already exhausted and wanted to run away from this. Her mind raced through multiple possibilities; how their romantic life was if this was a relationship and not just an accident, their future, his future. All not including her.

The red-head jumped when his voice echoed in her ears, “Karin.”

Her glasses almost fell off her face with how quickly she turned around, “S-Sasuke-kun! Is something wrong? Is everything okay?”

“Because of you, it is.” He nodded, “My wife sent me in here to talk to you though.”

_Wife? When did they get married?_

“O-Oh…” She pushed up her glasses, creating a glare so Sasuke couldn’t see the hurt in her eyes, “Why’d she do that if everything is okay? And congrats… on the marriage and kid.” I guess.  _Thanks for not telling me, asshole._

“Ah.” It was in thanks. He leaned his back against the desk she was working on, trying to create a more casual atmosphere (it ended up looking pretty awkward), “We got married after finding out she was pregnant.” Honestly, he didn’t know why he was telling her this information. Part of him thought it’d be what Sakura wanted, and what Karin needed to know. It was the truth, after all.

“I see.” _So it was unplanned._  “So you knocked her up, then eloped. How romantic.” She didn’t hide the bit of venom in her voice. “You do know what condoms are, right?”

He sighed, “Karin…”

“Look, I don’t care, okay? I get it, she’s hot and was with you. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure the delivery goes fine. Don’t overstay your welcome after she pops it out, though.” She stood up, then began to walk away when Sasuke grabbed her arm, making her stop.

“That’s not how it was. Or is. At all.” His expression let her know he was serious, “I wouldn’t propose just because she’s having our child. It just sped things up. I’ve known her since we were children… She joined me in traveling almost a year ago, and I realized…” He let go of her arm, eyes becoming more gentle.

He didn’t need to say it.

He loves her.

Karin could feel her heart break even more. The baby didn’t constrain him to Sakura; it solidified their bond.

“Sasuke, I appreciate you explaining it to me.” She looked down, “I need to be alone right now though. Please…” Red, almost tearful eyes met his, “Go be with your wife.”

He nodded, and left the room, unsure what to do when he heard her soft cries as he closed the door.

 

 

“How’d it go?” Sakura glanced up at her husband when he entered the room.

“She’s crying…”

“Sasuke-kun! That’s not what I meant for you to do.”

“No, I think it’s because she understands the situation now.”

“Oh…” Sakura couldn’t help but to feel bad.

It went silent before Sasuke spoke up again, “Any more contractions?”

“I had a small one that lasted a few seconds right before you walked in. So it’s still pretty irregular.”

“Ah.” He felt a mixture of anxiety – between wanting to see their child, and wanting it to be postponed a bit longer.

As she said, Karin checked every hour for Sakura’s status. She was quick, accurate, and only talked to give out information and to ask how often and long her contractions were. 6 hours later, she was finally in active labor. Contractions every four minutes that lasted about a minute. Karin bumped up her visits to every fifteen minutes. Sasuke never left her side, helping her change positions when she got too stiff. He offered words of encouragement (“you’re so strong” being one of them). Another four hours later, it was finally time to push.

“I can’t do it!” Sakura was sobbing, feeling as though her her insides were being torn apart. It had been almost two hours “I –AH- want to sleep! I want to go home! I can’t! Make it stop!”  Her contractions were overlapping, and Sasuke’s hand was turning purple.

“You can do it. I’m here. You-” Sasuke was interrupted.

“SHUT UP! You’re the reason I’m in pain right now!” Hatred spilled from her eyes. She almost let go of his hand, but ended up squeezing it harder as another contraction rolled through.

“Sakura, you  **HAVE** to keep pushing through the contractions. If you don’t it could be dangerous to the baby. And you’ll just be in pain longer.” Karin’s face was stern, “If you’re gonna give up now, you’ll be a worthless parent.”

Sasuke almost snapped at Karin, almost saying that she needed to keep her personal feelings out of this. Instead, his attention turned back to Sakura when he noticed she was actually pushing.

“Yes! Just like that!” Karin could actually feel herself getting excited as she encouraged Sakura, “Take a deep breath and push again. Oh! The head, it’s crowning! Keep it up, keep it up!”

Before they knew it, the room was filled with crying wales, and not from Sakura. 

“It’s a girl.” Karin couldn’t help but to smile as she began wiping off the baby. “Sasuke-kun, do you want to cut the umbilical cord?”

The couple were in shock as they listened to their daughter cry. He was only pulled out of it when Karin mentioned his name. He gulped and walked to Karin. After she handing him the small scissors, she told him where to cut near the clamps.

His hand was so shaky, he almost missed.

Karin finished cleaning her, amused by the child’s dark black hair (she looked exactly like Sasuke). Gently, she handed her over to Sakura. As she cleaned up Sakura, the room filled with silence and heaviness once the child stopped crying. To break it, Karin spoke up.

“Do you have a name picked out?”

“Sarada.” Sakura smiled through her exhaustion, “Her papa picked it out.”

Karin looked up at the three of them. The heaviness in the room Karin felt was something she couldn’t describe as anything other than pure, deep love. A deep love she didn’t even know existed. Deeper than the love she felt for Sasuke herself.

It was proven when she saw the tears falling from Sasuke’s eyes.   
Once Sakura noticed, she cried too, and rested her forehead against her husband’s.

Karin decided the two deserved some privacy. As she closed the door, she could hear Sasuke mutter two simple sentences in a voice so tender, she barely recognized it was his.

“Thank you, Sakura. I’m in love with you.”

Karin cried again, this time, elated at Sasuke finding happiness.

-

_On March 31st, just a little after 1am, Uchiha Sarada was warm_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favorite chapter by far. I hope you cried just as much as I did while writing this :’)


	11. Home

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Sasuke and Sakura finally return to the village after traveling for over a year, much to everyone’s excitement. The two even brought a special surprise for their friends and family.

Two days later, and it was time to head home.

Sasuke and Sakura stood outside of the the hide-away, while Karin was inside. “Are you sure you don’t want to stay a few more days? You shouldn’t stress your body so closer after giving birth.” Her red eyes held an expression of worry, eyebrows knit together.

Sakura shook her head as she adjusted Sarada to a more comfortable position. In the end, she decided the cloth sling was better since it was warm, “I don’t want to stay longer than we should. It’s not fair to ask you to act as a nurse when you’re already so busy.”

Suddenly, the words Karin spat at Sasuke the other day rippled through her mind. She set her gaze down to the ground in guilt. She only looked up when Sakura grabbed her hand.

“Besides, it’s because of your care that I have my strength back so quick.” Sakura’s genuine smile caused one to form on her own lips, “Thank you, so much.” Karin responded by gently squeezing her friend’s hand back.

With that the family of three left.

Honestly, it was an amusing sight. Sakura held Sarada, while Sasuke somehow managed to balance three bags (their travel bags and baby bag).

After their first break, Sarada needed to be fed, the two decided they should go ahead and send a messenger hawk back to the village. It was only eleven in the morning, but they figured it’d be a 6 hour walk with fitting in stops.

~

Back in Konoha: Naruto and Sai were going over the briefings of their last mission with Kakashi, when there was a knock at the door. Upon being ushered in, the top ninja in charge of the messenger hawks approached him.

“Sir, we received a message from Uchiha Sasuke.” After handing Kakashi the message, he dismissed himself.

“Oh,” Kakashi smiled through his mask, “Looks like Sasuke and Sakura are planning to be back in the village by five tonight.”

“Really!? That’s great news!” Naruto’s eyes practically lit up, “We should all meet them by the front gate! Like a welcoming party, y’know? Oh! I’ll definitely bring Hinata by too!”

Sai flashed his infamous smile, “I’ll invite Ino. It’s obvious she misses Sakura.”

“That sounds like a good idea,” The Hokage tilted his head to the side, thinking that this would be an excuse to leave the office. Plus, he wanted to confirm his suspicions, “But let’s just leave the invitations there. Any more would just annoy Sasuke.”

Naruto chuckled sheepishly. He was caught red handed, already plotting to invite all of their friends and former classmates.

~  
At 5pm, the five of them (Kakashi, Naruto, Hinata, Sai, and Ino) were patiently waiting by the gates.

At 5:15, patience started developing into worry.

By 5:45, Naruto and Ino were practically panicking.

At 6, even Hinata and Sai were beginning to grow concerned.

Luckily, Kakashi was there to keep them in line, reassuring them that the trip might’ve been longer than they thought.

Not much longer after that, relief washed over all five of them (Kakashi, admittedly was going to start a search team if they had to wait any longer) when they saw two figures approaching from afar. Sakura’s bright, pink hair made it obvious that it was them.

Naruto and Ino, perfectly in character, waved eagerly the moment their figures became more prominent. If they were dogs, their tails would surely be wagging.

“Wait… what is Sakura-chan carrying?” Naruto squinted his eyes, “Looks like a wrapped sack of potatoes.”

“It almost looks like…” Ino gasped in realization. She slowly lowered her hand in shock, “No fucking way…” Hinata simply glanced at her friend with her own stunned expression.

Finally, the two were at the gate.

“Hey, everyone.” Sakura was obviously tired, but seeing her friends granted her just enough energy, “Long time no see.”

“Yeah! You too!” Naruto approached the two with his hands behind his head, “Why’d you bring a bunch of veggies though?” He brought his hand down to pull back some of the fabric, Sakura giving him a questioning look. Veggies?

“T-That’s not a vegetable! Or food in general!” Naruto’s eyes practically went white as he jumped back.

“It’s a baby.” Sai’s observation only annoyed Naruto more.

“Yes, but who’s?!” He was flabbergasted, to say the least, “And why is Sakura-chan holding it!? Was it abandoned?! Are you saving it!? How di-”

“Shut up, I just got her to sleep.” In a swift motion, Sakura knocked Naruto on the head, “She’s not an abandoned baby, but…” She glanced up at Sasuke with a soft blush, “S-She’s our child…”

Everything went quiet, before Naruto spoke up again.

“Is this a bad joke?” His eyes narrowed, “April Fool’s Day was yesterday, y’know?”

“Why would I lie about something like that?” She snapped her head towards the blonde. Naruto glanced up at Sasuke, waiting for him to tell Sakura to stop teasing him.

“It’s true.” He blinked, face expressionless.

So he’s in on it too? Naruto looked back at Kakashi, who wasn’t shocked what-so-ever.

“Ah, I honestly was expecting it when I got the marriage license six months ago. Congratulations, by the way.”

“YOU’RE MARRIED?!” Ino yelled before she could stop herself. The air went stiff as everyone heard the small child shuffle in the sling. Luckily, she didn’t start crying.

Sakura smiled sheepishly, “It only felt natural after we found out I was pregnant.”

Ino swiftly walked over to her best friend. Sakura was anticipating being yelled at. Instead, Ino grabbed her hand and started giggling. “I’m so glad it all worked out for you two! I’ve been rooting for you!” She gently hugged Sakura, careful of her baby.

“Oh, let me see her!” Ino peaked into the fabric. She was greeted by two almond, black eyes and tuft of black hair staring up at her. The child’s face held no true expression, “Yep, she’s Sasuke-kun’s daughter alright. But she’s also so tiny! How old is she? What’s her name?”

“She’s barely two days old.” Sakura chuckled with relief, “And Sasuke came up with the name Sarada.”

Ino gently touched the small child’s cheek before glaring back up at Sakura, “Don’t think you’re off the hook though! I still demand all the details of your trip later!”

“Yeah, yeah.” Emerald eyes closed with a smile.

“So, have you two eaten dinner yet?” Kakashi motioned towards the village, “All of us could catch up over a warm meal, if you’d like.”

Sakura glanced at her husband before nodding, “Sure. I wouldn’t mind that.”

Without waiting much longer, the group headed towards the central eating district of the village. Eventually, they settled for a decent sit-down restaurant with a wide variety of traditional Japanese foods (even though Naruto suggested Ichiraku).

After ordering their food, Ino began asking more questions.

“Do your parents know?”

“They don’t know yet…” She sighed, a little disappointed in herself, “I know they’ll be upset we didn’t tell them right away.”

“So, then who all does know about this?”

“Now? Just you guys.” Sakura mindlessly ran her fingers over Sarada’s legs through the carrier, “Plus Karin, since she helped with the delivery.”

“What? You didn’t have her in a hospital?”

“No. Sarada wasn’t actually due for a few more weeks, but I guess she had other plans.” She gently chuckled, “I went into labor on the original day Sasuke-kun and I were supposed to come home. We really wanted to have her here.”

“I see…” Ino leaned back in her seat, rubbing her own stomach as if she was showing already, “How do you think your parents will handle this? Where will you stay.”

“I’m not certain, but I imagine they’ll be in shock at first, and it’ll probably come off angry when they ask questions. Though, they’d never reject us, so I’m not too worried. They’ll most likely let us stay with them until we can find a place of our own. I want to start house hunting as soon as possible so we aren’t a burden.” She smiled up at Sasuke, “Plus, it’ll be nice to have our own home to raise her in right away.” He nodded in affirmation.

A few moments of silence passed before Sai spoke up.

“Sasuke-kun, your birthday is in July, right?”

He nodded again, a little perplexed at the random question, “Yeah.”

“And Sarada-chan’s due date was in April?”

This time Sakura answered, “Y-Yeah? And?”

“So, this was a birthday conception, right?” He tilted his head with an innocent smile, as if he had just asked what time it was.

Sasuke simply closed his eyes in frustration, while Sakura shot death glares at her former teammate. Normally, Ino would’ve scolded her husband for asking such a question, but couldn’t get the words out past her laughter. Hinata chuckled due to the awkward atmosphere.

Naruto started counting the months on his fingers, “What the hell, teme! You pervert! In my letter, I suggested you hold her hand, not her… her-!”

“Naruto, shut it!” Sakura’s face turned a deep shade of red, embarrassed that the attention turned towards their private life.

Oh, goodness. Kakashi couldn’t help but to smile and rest his head in his palm, finding the situation amusing.

Luckily, the food arrived in that moment, so the subject quickly dispersed as everyone ate. Soft cries eventually interrupted their quiet meal about hallway through.

“She’s probably hungry.” Sasuke softly muttered, reaching into the baby bag without any second thought.

Sakura gently bounced Sarada, “Ah, yeah. You did just change her diaper before we got here.”

In the next few moments, Sasuke handed her the cover up so Sakura could breastfeed their baby without having to leave the table. The Uchiha steadied Sarada while Sakura tied the soft blanked around her neck.

“Thanks, Anata. I’ve got her now.” Sasuke carefully exchanged his arm for hers. After Sakura was sure that Sarada latched, they went back to eating. Neither of them knew, but everyone at the table were mesmerized. Kakashi couldn’t help but to feel a bit of pride at their teamwork.

“Wait, teme changed her diaper? How’d he do that with one arm?” Naruto narrowed his eyes, suspicious.

“I use Susano’o.” The answer was obvious to him.

“Eh? That’s a little scary for an infant, y’know?”

Sakura chuckled, “She’s too young to know the difference for things like that. Besides, having her get used to it now will mean she won’t be afraid of it later. Like when I start working at the hospital again... if Sasuke-kun is alone with her, she won’t be shocked.”

“Ooooooh.” He nodded, understanding. “Still scary. Especially with the teme’s brooding personality.”

Sasuke rolled his eyes with a sigh, “Shut up, dobe.”

After eating, when asked about the bill, Kakashi answered that it was all separate, except for Sasuke and Sakura’s meal.

“E-Eh? Kakashi sensei?” Sakura shook her hand in front of her face, “You really don’t have to do that.”

“Don’t worry about it, you two.” He smiled, “Consider it a late wedding gift. And congratulations for Sarada.”

“Huh?! You’re not going to treat all of us?” Naruto frowned.

“You don’t have a new baby to support, and you don’t have to save for a new house anytime soon.”

“Hmph…” He crossed his arms with a pout.

After paying (the Uzumaki’s and Yamanaka’s paying for themselves), everyone headed to their respective homes.

Since Sakura’s parents lived down the same way from Naruto and Hinata’s new place, they went together.

“Man, I can’t believe Kakashi-sensei is such a cheapskate…” At this point, Naruto was just complaining to complain.

“The food wasn’t even that expensive, Anata.” Hinata chuckled, holding her hands behind her back, “Anyways, are you two glad to be back in Konoha?”

The Uchiha quirked her lips into a smile, “Yeah. It wouldn’t be easy raising a child on the road like that. Plus, it’s interesting to see what all has changed in just a year.” Sakura cracked her neck, a little tired from holding Sarada all day while walking.

“Do you want me to hold her?” Sasuke stopped walking, glancing at his wife.

“You’re already carrying so much, though.”

“…I don’t mind.” Luckily, it was dark, so only Sakura could tell that he was blushing. She couldn’t help but to giggle.

“If you want to hold her, you can just ask.” She carefully removed the sling, gently handing their daughter to Sasuke, “She’s your daughter too, y’know.”

“Hn.” His right arm cradled Sarada, holding her somewhat close to his chest. It was faint, but he smiled too.

“You two are so cute together.” Hinata chimed in, much to Naruto’s amusement.

“Yeah, it’s kinda weird seeing so many different sides to you, teme.” Naruto shifted his weight onto one foot, “Your typical broody mood, gentle father, affectionate husband… what else…” He counted on his fingers, “Oh! And hearing about your perverted side….” The blond smiled, ignoring the mutual glares from Sasuke and Sakura.

“But, really.” His tone changed ever so slightly, “I’m really glad to see that you two are happy together. I know you’ll be amazing parents, especially since you care about each other so much, y’know? And I promise to be the best Uncle ever to Sarada!” Naruto flashed a thumbs up to the two.

“We’ll hold you to that.” Sasuke chuckled.

After walking a little further down the road, the two couples eventually split to their respective paths. Upon arriving at her parents’ door, Sakura took a deep breath.

“Well, here we go. You ready, Sasuke-kun?”

He nodded, hiding his apprehension. Though, Sakura could see it in his eyes. Gulping a bit, she rang the doorbell.

The two heard a set of light footsteps, followed by slightly heavier ones. Slowly, the door opened.

“Hello?” A feminine voice peeked out before fully opening the door, “Oh! Sakura-chan! You’re home!” Mebuki took a step out to hug her daughter, before suddenly stopping.

She wasn’t alone. In fact, she had two guests with her.

“Eh? Sakura’s home!? Dear, what’s wrong?” Kizashi also approached them, before stopping himself. Unlike with their blond friend, Kizashi and Mebuki knew exactly was swaddled inside the cloth.

They all stood there in silence for a moment, before some of Mebuki’s senses kicked in.

“C-Come in…” She stood to the side so the family in front of her could enter, “It’s starting to get cold.”

After entering the home, they all sat seiza style on the tatami. Sakura held Sarada without the sling, so it was easier for her parents to see their new grandchild. However, Kizashi avoided eye contact.

“Okay…” Mebuki sighed, “How exactly did all of this happen? You said you were going to just travel for a bit, not start a family…”

Sakura blushed, “W-Well, that’s how it started. Sasuke-kun and I got close, and-“

“I don’t want to hear those details.” Kizashi snapped his head towards Sakura. The idea that his daughter lost her virginity before marriage, to a man he had mostly heard bad rumors about. Yes, he was reconciling by protecting the village from threats he probably couldn’t even fathom, the young Uchiha still seemed like a threat to his daughter. “You’re a renouned medical ninja… If you are going to do such impure things, don’t you know that birth control exists for a reason? You’re way too young to be a parent!”

Sakura narrowed her eyes, obviously hurt by her father’s words, “I’m not stupid, Dad! It failed, okay?!”

“Sakura, dear, don’t yell…” Her mom tried to reason, “You’ll upset the baby…”

Kizashi ignored his wife, “It wouldn’t have failed if you didn’t throw yourself out there to begin with! He wrongfully seduced you!”

Sakura gasped, “Dad! I will not let you talk about my husband that way!”

“Husband!?” Kizashi raised his voice even more, “You fucking eloped?! Sakura, tha-“ The fight was interrupted when Sasuke suddenly bowed his head to the floor on his hands.

“Mr. Haruno, I assure you that I only have Sakura’s best interests in mind. Since we were children, she cared about me. When my mind began to get clouded, she tried to bring me back. When I left the village, she was the first one to try and stop me. Even after I tried to kill her, she still saved my life. Your daughter saved me from the darkness and made me realize where I was horribly wrong. I regret everything I’ve done in my past, though I try to make up for it. I could protect the village and this family for the rest of my life, but it still wouldn’t be enough to repay Sakura for everything she’s done for me. Not only did she save my life, but she brought a new one into my world. I am forever grateful for her. I love your daughter with all my life, and I love our daughter with every ounce of soul left in me. I promise I will never hurt them, and do everything in my power to make sure they are safe, happy, cared for, and loved. Just as I hope someone would want to treat Sarada.”

Kizashi (caught off guard by Sasuke essentially reading his mind) and Mebuki were shocked into silence, while tears fell from Sakura’s emerald eyes.

“S-Sasuke-kun…” Her voice was barely a whisper.

“Lift your head, Sasuke.” Kizashi sighed, calmed down. Sasuke did as he was told, the softest tinge of pink on his cheeks and a slight red circle on his forehead from bowing, “I’ll hold you to those words. But if you hurt them in any way, I’ll make sure the Hokage has your head.”

Sasuke nodded, not intending for that to happen anyways.

“Besides…” Kizashi reached his arms out, motioning for Sakura to let him hold the infant, “She’s an absolute ANGEL and I love her already.” His serious face quickly turned into an ear-to-ear smile. “You said her name was Sarada?”

Sakura had an anxious smile, “Y-Yeah. She’s only two days old. We wanted to be home before she was born, but I ended up going into labor a few weeks early.”

“Oh my goodness!” Mebuki gently poked her nose, “Someone must’ve been in a rush to meet her Grandpa! And her nose looks just like Mebuki’s! So cute!”

The rest of the night went well, talking about how Sasuke and Sakura planned on buying a home as soon as possible so they could raise Sarada. Of course, after their previous discussions, the Haruno’s welcomed with open arms, stating they could go shopping the next day to get supplies for Sarada to stay both at their place, and the home-to-be-bought. Especially since Mebuki made them promise that she could babysit every once in a while.

After talking more (on better terms), the small Uchiha family migrated to Sakura’s old room. It had a double bed, which Sasuke and Sakura shared. Sarada was safely settled on a futon near the wall.

“I’m really glad that my dad came around.” Sakura let out a sigh of relief, resting her hand over her husband’s chest.

“Yeah.” His eyes were closed, head towards the ceiling. Sasuke could feel the tension of the day finally melting out of his muscles.

“Hey, Anata,” She was a little shy, “What you said back there… did you mean it?”

Sasuke rolled over and slowly opened his eyes with a sincere glint, “I wouldn’t lie about that. Anyways, you know it’s true.”

“I’ve just never heard you say it like that.” She smiled as she ran her fingers through dark hair, exposing mismatched eyes, “I know you meant it for my dad, but it was nice to hear you say it... Sasuke-kun, thank you.”

He placed a gentle kiss on her forehead, “I should be saying that to you.”

After a comfortable silence, Sakura found herself not quite ready to fall asleep, “So, who do you think Sarada looks more like?”

“She’s barely two days old,” Sasuke chuckled, “She has my hair and eye color, though, I think her face resembles more of you.”

“So a perfect combination?”

“Hn.” He wrapped his arm around her waist, “Only if she ends up with your personality.”

“But we won’t know that for a few more months, will we?” She rubbed her nose against his. Sasuke thought that was strange, but endearing, “I’m so happy we’re a family. I love you, Sasuke-kun.”

Sasuke responded by kissing the tip of her nose, followed by her lips, before the two decided to fall asleep… at least, for a few hours before Sarada woke up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanna cry because I only have like 3 chapters left for this fic! I never imagined myself actually getting so invested with this. Thank you all SO much for your support so far!


	12. Growth

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> She won't stay small forever

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Motivation has hit me like a wrecking ball this week! Enjoy <3

Within two-ish months, the two had finally found a home. It was in their ideal neighborhood, close to the hospital (for when Sakura decided to go back to work), and a decent size. While it was a little out of their price range, they were grateful that they were approved for a decent loan (mainly due to Sakura having a good credit score, especially compared to Sasuke’s non-existent one).

Of course, all of their friends and Sakura’s family offered to help them move in. With their assistance, they were able to get everything set up by the end of the day. 

Sasuke was reflecting on this day seven months later. It was right after New Years, and he could easily say this was more than just a house. He couldn’t help but to gaze lovingly at the Uchiha crest on his wife’s back as she was dusting a random shelf. He was pulled back from thoughts when she spoke up.

“What should we get Naruto and Hinata as a gift for their baby? It’s going to be a boy, and he should be here in a month.” She continued her chore, not even turning around, “Like, what’s a gift that we would’ve wanted?”

“I don’t know.” Sasuke shrugged, “A gift card? Some extra diapers?”

Sakura sighed, “He’s your best friend, Anata. It should be more thoughtful than that.”

“Let’s go shopping tomorrow and look around a bit…” Sasuke’s attention was turned to where their nine month old was sitting.

_Was_  sitting.

She has since perfected crawling, especially at a fast speed. She had silently migrated over to a plant that apparently looked rather tasty to her. Sarada was just about put the leaf into her mouth, that is, until Sasuke rushed to scooped her up. In the process, she dropped the leaf. 

Her hands reached out to it in a tantrum as she cried, “Papa! No!”

Sakura spun around so fast she almost became dizzy, and Sasuke’s eyes went wide.

Immediately, they hugged and kissed Sarada, letting her know how incredibly smart she was. They were beyond overjoyed by what she had just said. Sarada’s tears stopped, but only out of confusion.

“You cheated, Anata.” Sakura playfully pouted, “I was hoping her first words would be  _Mama_!”

_Her first words._

~  
Three months later, Sakura, Temari, Ino, and Karui were all in the kitchen, preparing for the party. Their husbands, Kakashi, and Tsunade sat in the main living space while the children played. Rounds of laughter, stories, and random chatter filled the air, only to be temporarily interrupted by knocking.

“Oh, that’s probably Naruto and Hinata…” Sakura walked out to the living space with slightly dirty hands, “Anata, do you mind answering the door?”

He nodded, though as he almost approached the door, Naruto opened it himself.

“Dobe,” Sasuke smiled, “You can’t just enter people’s homes like that.”

“You invited us over, and the door was unlocked, y’know.” He chuckled, holding the door open so Hinata could easily enter with the baby carrier.

“Sorry we’re late,” Hinata shyly bowed, “Boruto ended up having a small accident, so that threw us off by an hour.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Sasuke nodded, “We haven’t eaten yet, and I think they’re finishing Sarada’s birthday cake now.”  

Once situated, Naruto sat in a chair next to Boruto’s carrier (which was placed on the ground) while Hinata joined the other girls in the kitchen.

Sarada’s attention was grabbed by the infant. He was almost two months old, and the smallest baby she had ever seen. Clumsily, she used the item nearest to her (which happened to be Kakashi’s leg) to stand up, and took confident steps to investigate.

Sasuke almost gasped, “Sakura! Come here!”

“What is it?” Almost running, she walked out of the kitchen, “No way!” She smiled from ear to ear as Sarada carefully stepped past her to get to Boruto, “We were starting to get worried! Most babies begin walking by eleven months!”

Sarada’s black eyes were open in awe at Boruto as she awkwardly crouched next to him.

“He’s handsome, right?” Naruto chuckled in amusement, “This must be love at first sight, eh, Sasuke?” Naruto looked at Sasuke right as the Uchiha glared at him.

In that moment, everyone watched, almost in shock, as Sarada raised her hand in a motion to smack the baby Uzumaki across his face. Instinctively, Naruto put his arm out to protect his son while Sakura scooped up her daughter.

“…Or not.” Naruto had a sheepish grin. Sasuke’s glare turned into a glint of pride.

“Sarada!” Sakura gently scolded her daughter, “We don’t hit! Especially babies.” Sarada frowned, almost crying.

“Maybe she’s jealous that she’s not that little anymore.” Tsunade teased as Sarada’s tears fell with little sobs.

“Oh, look, Sakura. You made her cry! On her birthday, after she just took her first steps!” This time, Ino teased.

Sakura ignored both of them, holding Sarada close to soothe her.

_Her first steps._

~

Over a year and a half passed since then, and Sasuke found himself loving being a father more and more as the days went on.

Sasuke was laying on the sofa while reading a book, as Sarada sat on his stomach to watch one of her favorite children’s TV programs. It was occaisionally uncomfortable, especially when she would shift positions.

“I’m home!” Sakura called into the house as she took off her shoes, “And I have supper!”

Sarada excitedly wiggled off of Sasuke’s belly and ran to the door, “Mama! Welcome home!” She hugged Sakura’s legs before being picked up. Sasuke walked up to them not too much later, taking the bags of food from her hands.

“I didn’t feel like cooking.” She chuckled, “Long day at the hospital.”

“You could’ve texted me to cook.” He also took the lab coat off her shoulders.

“Eh, you were busy with watching Sarada.” She smiled as she walked towards the kitchen, “Besides, it sounded good to me.”  

“Hm.” He shared her smile, thinking it sounded good too.

As Sakura set up the food (which didn’t take long at all), Sasuke put Sarada in her high chair.

“You two can go ahead and start eating. I’m gonna use the bathroom first.” After that, she disappeared to the restroom.

Not wanting to start himself before Sakura, he decided to work on feeding Sarada instead. Even though she was two and a half and could decently eat, she liked it when her Papa fed her.

When Sakura came back with a confused look, Sasuke asked her what was wrong.

“Did you forget to clean Sarada’s training potty after she used it?”  They had been trying to get her to use a toilet for about four months now, to no avail on her own.

“No?” He was just as confused now. The two glanced at Sarada.

“Honey, did you go potty without telling Papa?” Sakura brushed her hands through short black hair.

Sarada nodded, “Yeah! When Papa was reading!”

“Oh my goodness! What a big girl!” Sakura leaned down to kiss her daughter, who giggled with pride, “I’m so proud of you, sweetie! That’s it, we’re gonna celebrate with cake after dinner!”

Sasuke smiled as Sarada cheered. After dinner, they did just that. Sasuke’s slice wasn’t very big, since he didn’t like sweets. When they were done, they bathed Sarada and tucked her into bed for the night. Not much longer after that, Sasuke and Sarada laid down in their own bed.

“I can’t believe how big she’s getting, Anata.” Sakura let out a satisfied sigh, “Already beginning to use the bathroom by herself. It won’t be long before she starts school… I’m happy, but I also miss how little she used to be.”

“Yeah.” Sasuke was on his back, eyes on the ceiling. He let a few seconds of silence pass before speaking up again, “Let’s have another.”

Sakura looked at her husband in shock, “W-What?”

“Since it’s your body, you get to chose.” He turned so they were face to face, “But, I wouldn’t mind if we had another kid.”

She smiled and nodded, “I-I’d love to, Sasuke-kun! I-I can ask Shizune or Ino to take out my IUD tomorrow at work.”  

Without wasting a thought, their lips molded effortlessly together. Hands began to explore as Sasuke maneuvered so she was on top. He pushed her panties down effortlessly and began to massage her rear. As she began to kiss down his neck, he pushed her back up.

“I want you to sit on my face.” He almost growled.

“E-Eh?” Sakura blushed, “But I’ve gained wait since having Sarada…”

Their sex life had slowed down a bit after having Sarada, but that didn’t mean it was completely dead. Sasuke definitely still had his desires. Which Sakura could easily see in his mismatched eyes.

With a gulp, she raised herself over his face. Sasuke started by slowly licking around her thighs, his right thumb playing with her pink slit.

“Fuck, you’re  _wet_.” He grunted, wanting nothing more than to burry himself inside her.

“S-Sasuke-kun…” Her voice came out in a soft sigh, “P-Please…”

With that, he ravaged her folds. His tongue teased her opening before circling her clit. For good measure, he pumped two fingers inside of her, curving them just the way she liked.

Sakura did her best to keep her moans somewhat quiet, not wanting to disturb Sarada’s sleeping upstairs. She gyrated against his face, her liquids covering his mouth. At this pace, it wasn’t long before she unraveled before him.

He groaned into her orgasm, the pulsating of her opening driving his mind wild. Every squeeze went straight to his achingly hard cock.

After coming down from her high, Sakura began kissing and biting down his chest, until reaching where he so desperately wanted to be touched. However, the moment she started stroking his length, he had to stop her. Confused, she looked up at him. He gently guided her face up to his mouth to tenderly kiss her.

“I’m too close for foreplay.” He hotly whispered in her ear, a gentle blush against his cheeks, “Let me fuck you.”

Sakura sat up with the evilest expression on her face, “Oh? You’re going to blow your load already?”  She chuckled through his glare as she positioned herself on top of him, “How uncool of you.”

“Annoying.” He pushed his cock against her folds, practically begging to enter her.

“Am I now?” She acted like she was going to grant him what he wanted, but instead grinded her clit against him.

“Yes.” He squeezed her ass, his groan almost sounding like pain, “Jus-“ He was interrupted when she suddenly pushed him inside. The moan that came from her lips made his member twitch.

They started out with a lazy pace, Sakura circling around when he was deep inside her. Impatient, Sasuke pulled her head to his so he could pump with fervor.

“Ah!” Her mouth fell open has his cock hit that one spot his fingers couldn’t quite reach, “Fuck,  _there_!”  Sakura’s stomach felt like butterflies were tying knots inside her as she began climbing the ladder towards her orgasm. Her nails dug into her husband’s hair to signal that she was close.

Not wanting to be done yet, he flipped their positions, completely pulling out of her.

“Sasuke! No!” She almost cried, “I was so close…”

“Hn.”  _Payback_. “Already? How uncool of you.” He smirked as his cock rubbed against her slick, swollen folds.

“It’s different for me!” She frowned. Honestly, she felt like (playfully) punching him for that stunt, “I can come multiple times, you can maybe orgasm twice in a session.”  

He shrugged before sheathing himself within her again. Before bending down so their lips could touch, he put one of her legs over his shoulder to go deeper. She moaned into their kiss, relishing how incredibly good he was at this.

It didn’t take long before both of them were on the brink of their orgasm again. Their pace became sloppy and didn’t match as they were desperate to come. Sakura brought her hand to her clit, causing waves of pleasure to spike through her body. She came with a loud moan, Sasuke following suit soon after with his own grunts.

Their lips met as his warmness spilled inside. Sakura couldn’t help but to curl her toes at the amazing feeling.

Once their breaths slowed back to normal, he slowly pulled out, admiring how incredibly gorgeous his wife was. She was a little curvier after giving birth, breasts maybe a cup size larger. Of course, he could never complain about such a wonderful change.

He hadn’t realized that he was staring for a long time until her hands reached out for him to hold her. Sasuke granted her wish, gently stroking her back until green eyes closed into slumber.

That night, Sasuke couldn’t help but to think how lucky he was. Married to the woman he loved most, with an amazing daughter, and hopes to have another child. Honestly, he still believed he didn’t deserve this. But he still wouldn’t change it for anything.

Sasuke was finally content.

_Growth._


	13. The Distance

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life happens; things change.
> 
> Rating: M

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Going back to wider spaces in between chapters due to school starting back up. Still hope everyone enjoys this!

The next morning, Sasuke woke up as the sun flickers through light blue curtains. He turned over to a much smaller figure sleeping peacefully next to him, her chest slowly rising and falling with each breath. He couldn’t help but to smile at his daughter’s innocent face.

Still, he was a little confused; he only vaguely remembered his wife getting out of bed for work earlier that morning – and he definitely didn’t remember the toddler taking her place.

None-the-less, he figured this is what happiness was.

He gently ran his fingers through her raven black hair. It was a little greasy, but that was to be expected since today was when she was due for a bath. She slowly stirred and round, onyx eyes fluttered open to greet him.

“Morning, Papa.” Her voice was groggy as she yawned, rubbing one of her eyes.

“Morning.” He nodded, “Do you want breakfast?”

She shook her head, cuddling deep into his chest, “I wanna lay with Papa a lil’ more.”

“Hn.” Sasuke chuckled as he wrapped his arm around her, “Let me know when you want to get up.”

Everything went normal for the rest of the day; they rolled out of bed at around eleven, and spent the day at the house. They switched between chores, playing (Sasuke would teach her some basic fighting stances), and relaxing. About an hour before Sasuke was going to prepare dinner for Sakura coming home, there was a knock at the door.

He was greeted by two anbu ninja.

“Mr. Uchiha, Lord Hokage has summoned you.” His voice was flat.

Sasuke nodded, figuring that a mission popped up that he needed to go on. This is how Kakashi usually called him for these things.

“Tell Kakashi I’ll be there in about half an hour. I need to find a babysitter.”

The other anbu nodded before disappearing. Luckily for Sasuke, his in-laws weren’t busy so they were able to rush over to watch Sarada.

Once he arrived at the Hokage’s office, Sasuke knew something was wrong. Not only was Kakashi there, but his wife and former teammate as well. The look on Sakura’s face instantly let him know this wouldn’t be a normal mission.

He narrowed his eyes, “What’s going on?”

“We’ve made some unpleasant discoveries…” Kakashi sighed, “A while ago, I sent a group of anbu out to investigate some horrendous deaths. Only three of the ten came back greatly injured. While Sakura was healing them, they mentioned that the cause were white Zetsu’s.”

Sasuke’s eyes went wide as Naruto gasped.

“W-What?” Naruto bunched his hands into fists, “There’s no way! We got rid of those guys back in the war, y’know!?”

“Apparently not.” Kakashi looked at the three in front of him, “As you know, the only way we can get rid of them is with-“

“Amaterasu.” Sasuke finished his sentence, “I’ll go on the mission and get rid of them.”

“I’ll go too!” Naruto was determined.

“No, you can’t go Naruto. You’re doing your apprenticeship to become Hokage in five years.” Sasuke glanced at his friend, “I’d be going alone, right?”

“Correct,” Kakashi nodded, “We have reason to believe that there are white Zetsu’s all over the world, this is where your Rinnegan comes in handy. We have no idea if the Otsutsuki clan is planning anything else… due to this, Sasuke, we don’t know how long you’ll be on this mission. It could be a few months, or a few years. This type of mission could even last decades.”

Both his and Sakura’s hearts dropped to their stomachs. All he could think of is not being able to watch Sarada grow up with his wife.

“I’m the only one who can do it.” Sasuke closed his eyes, accepting it. “I’ll protect the village from the shadows.”

“Your new, top secret, mission starts tomorrow,” Kakashi nodded, “I’ll meet you infront of the village gates at six in the morning.”

Sasuke nodded before turning around to leave, Sakura not far behind him. They picked up dinner at a stall, neither wanting to cook, grabbing extra of course to feed Sarada too. After her parents left, they ate as a family. Smiles filled the room, but the smiles from Sasuke and Sakura were painfully fake as they knew this could be their last meal together for a long time. Luckily, Sarada was too young to notice.

That night, they barely waited until the door was closed before their lips passionately met. He gently guided her to the bed, positioning himself on top of her as she laid down Their tongues desperately danced around each other, filled with anxiety for the future. Clothes shakily came off as Sasuke aligned himself at her core; neither wanted foreplay, just to be one.

Then he remembered that Sakura was going to have her IUD removed. They were going to try for another child. Now, he’d hate himself if he got her pregnant, then left.

He softly cursed, knowing they didn’t have any condoms, “Your birth control…”

“I never had it removed. We got too busy with the Anbu who needed surgery.” She ran her fingers through his hair reassuringly as tears spilled down her cheeks, “It’s okay.”

His heart shattered as he kissed away Sakura’s tears, pushing himself inside her.

Their love making this night was relatively quick, filled with desperate moans, soft cries, and all the tenderness they had within them. They climbed the ladder, spilling off of it almost as fast as it started.

“I love you so much.” Sakura sobbed into his chest when they were done, “Please please please please, for the love of the Gods, be safe.”

He held her as close to him as he could, “I love you, Sakura.” He couldn’t promise the second part; he didn’t know if he could keep it with how uncertain this mission was.

Neither of them slept that night.

At the gate the next morning, they were greeted by Naruto and Kakashi. Sakura had a very sleepy Sarada balanced on her hip, holding Sasuke’s bento in her other hand. Sasuke had a small bag packed of the bare necessities for traveling.

“Keep us updated with what you find, Sasuke. I have faith in you for handling this.” Kakashi offered a glance of confidence towards his former student. Sasuke replied with a nod.

“You protect the village from the outside, and I’ll do my best from the inside!” Naruto smiled holding his fist out.

“Hn.” Sasuke gave an assured smirk, fist-bumping the blond.

Kakashi and Naruto didn’t notice the dark bags under Sakura’s eyes until she spoke up, “Here’s your lunch, Anata.” Though her face genuinely looked like hell, she still offered a warm smile.

“Ah, thanks.” He took it, his smile towards Sakura saying how he felt. I’m sorry.

“Papa…” Sarada frowned, reaching out for Sasuke. “I’ll miss you.”

He took the toddler into his arm. Even though this is how she acted every time he left for a mission, he hugged her tight, knowing this could be the last time he sees her for a long time.

“I’ll take good care of her.” Her smile was weak.

Sasuke almost choked up, pressing a hard kiss to her forehead, “I know you will.” In the process of what could be their last family hug, Sasuke reluctantly handed Sarada back to his wife.

Before turning around, he poked their foreheads, “Until next time.”

The four watched until his figure completely disappeared into the distance. There wasn’t a single dry eye.

~

  
A little over two weeks later, Naruto and Kakashi took Sakura out during her lunch break to check in on her. After ordering their food, Naruto asked how she was doing.

“I’m doing a little better now. It’s still hard, especially when Sarada asks when he’ll be home…” She sighed, mindlessly spinning her straw in her drink, “It honestly was really bad timing for us, too. We… were going to try for another kid…”

Kakashi’s eyes went wide, “Shit…” He rubbed his face, “I fucked up. Sakura, if I had known, I would’ve…”

“You would’ve what?” She chuckled, “Found another ninja with Sharingan, Amaterasu, and Rinnegan? No one else could’ve done this mission, we all know that. I know that Sasuke-kun is trying his best out there, giving it his all to protect the village - Sarada and myself included. It honestly inspires me to do my best, too. I know it’ll be rough, especially as she grows up and questions it more, but I know we’ll get through it. We’ve been through worse.”   
Naruto chuckled, “And I’ll be here to help anyway I can. Anytime you get too lonely, Hinata and I can bring Boruto around, y’know. Have a play date.”

“And I’m sure Iruka and I wouldn’t mind babysitting if you want to be by yourself.” Kakashi couldn’t help but to feel pride at how his former student was adjusting to this.

Sakura smiled, “Yeah, thank you, guys. I know I’ll never truly be alone.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This physically hurt my chest to write lmao. The next chapter will be the last chapter in this part of the series! I'm going to open a poll (twitter, maybe?) for you guys to vote on who I should write about next in my Naruto series!


	14. Determined

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Today, Sarada grew up a bit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Holy shit I can’t believe this is the last chapter of this segment of my series! Thank you SO MUCH to everyone’s encouraging words! HERE is the link to my twitter poll on what Naruto OTP I should write about next! (I’ll also link it again at the end of the chapter so you don’t have to scroll a bunch.) If you can’t/don’t want to vote via twitter, you can comment on this chapter who you think I should write about. I’ll have the list at the end. Enjoy!

_They started becoming closer when he started visiting Konoha more often in between bouts of his redemption. At first, it started out with all of team 7 reuniting; then Kakashi became busier with the Chunin exams approaching, then Naruto became busy for unknown reasons (it wasn’t to their knowledge, but Kakashi told him to give the two alone-time for his own meddling). Eventually, Sasuke starting walking her home from work. She’d talk about her day, and he’d listen. When she asked about his most recent mission, his answer was short. She never expected a long answer – just having him back was more than enough. Sakura’s happiness for this was painfully obvious. She would even cancel planned events with her friends for an evening of just chatting with Sasuke… though, none of her friends ever minded. If anything, they encouraged it._

_On this particular day; however, Sakura had a newfound confidence. They were sitting on a lone bench, quietly watching the sea as the sun set._

_He spoke first this time, “I’m leaving for again in two days.”_

_“How long?” She frowned a little bit, enjoying how much time they’ve been spending together. It’d been about four weeks since he last left._

_“Not sure.” Sasuke shrugged, eyes stuck on slow waves._

_“Let me come with you.” Green eyes stared at his expression, trying to read mysterious thoughts._

_He sighed, “This doesn’t involve you.” [You don’t deserve to get tangled up in my sins.]_

_Normally, Sakura would’ve slumped in defeat, and Sasuke would’ve poked her forehead. Instead, she stood up with a huff, and stormed away. His gaze redirected towards the sea, knowing she would eventually understand._

_Two days later, Sasuke was about to leave again. To his surprise, she wasn’t there to see him off. Deciding that he really pissed her off (or maybe she had an emergency at the hospital?), he headed out._

_He was stopped the moment he took a step._

_“Sasuke-kun! Wait!” Pink hair practically flew in the wind as she raced up to him. He almost frowned when he saw that she had a packed bag, “I’m going with you. I already turned in my resignation at the hospital, and Kakashi-sensei gave me the okay.”_

_He blinked. Her eyes held a mix of multiple emotions. One being hurt. Was she hurt because he wouldn’t take her with him? No, it was deeper than that. She desperately wanted to rekindle their relationship (what kind of relationship that was? He had no idea). That’s when he realized it – not only did he need to redeem himself with the world, but with Sakura as well. One of the people he hurt the most – one of the people who still stood by him despite that._

_Also, the determination in her eyes let him know she wouldn’t change her mind._

_“Tch.” He turned around so she couldn’t see the faint blush on his cheeks, “Fine. It’ll be good to have a medic with me.”_

_When she didn’t move, he faced her again, knowing his blush would be practically invisible. Her eyes were wide in shock and mouth slightly parted. With a soft smile, he tapped her forehead._

_“C’mon, let’s go.”_

~

Sakura was having that dream again; the one where their relationship really started to bloom. When they traveled together, loved together, and grew together. To her own frustration, it was abruptly interrupted by her phone ringing.

With a groggy frown, she answered it, expecting it to be the hospital for an emergency surgery. Instead, it was her old friend, “Sakura-chan, can you come to my office?

“Hmmm? Naruto?” She yawned, not amused that it was only 3am. She JUST laid down to sleep about an hour ago. However, since becoming the Hokage, Naruto’s personality shifted to a more serious attitude. He wouldn’t call for no reason, “Is there something wrong?”

“We’ve made new discoveries; I can’t discuss it on the phone.” The young man nodded as if she were in front of him.

Her mind immediately went towards her husband, who left for a mission about five years ago. Is he okay? “I’ll be right over. I just have to take Sarada to my parent’s place.”

“Got it. See you soon.”

Even though Sarada was already seven, and could probably manage on her own for a few hours, Sakura remained a protective mother. She woke up Sarada (who groggily protested; she was so much like her father when it came to being woken up), packed a few things, and then headed towards the Haruno house. Her parents were almost used to this – Sakura brought Sarada over multiple times due to hospital emergencies. Though her parents could see through her obvious anxieties this time.

“What’s wrong?” Her mother furrowed her brows after Sarada was settled into Sakura’s old bed.

“Naruto called me saying he needed me to come to his office right away…” Sakura slipped her shoes back on, ready to leave.

Both of them immediately knew where her mind went, “Keep us updated, sweetie.”

With that, Sakura almost ran to the Hokage’s office, thousands of ways that Sasuke could be dead racing through her thoughts. When she practically burst through the door, her breath caught in her throat.

There he was.

“Sasuke-kun…”

His hair had definitely gotten longer, and he changed his outfit to include a cape and vest. His eyebrows pressed into confusion as he glanced at Naruto.

“I called her to come while you were in the bathroom. She should know about this since she helped us defeat Kaguya during the war.”

It was, quite frankly, a  _bullshit_  excuse in Sasuke’s mind. He knew his friend was just plotting for him to meet up with his wife. Sasuke sighed with a nod, glancing at Sakura once before talking to the other gokage (who happened to be visiting for their summit meeting) about his findings with the Otsutsuki clan and other white Zetsu’s.

~

After the meeting was over, one of Naruto’s clones and Sakura walked with Sasuke back to the gate. It was silent, and awkward.

Naruto didn’t like that.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, “Oh, uh, Hinata just texted me. Boruto isn’t feeling well so she asked me to grab some medicine for him. I’m gonna head out, y’know.” The blond smiled somewhat sheepishly, “Be careful out there, Teme. Keep me updated with anymore findings.”

Sasuke nodded as Naruto ran off.

They stood in silence at the front of the gate, crows chirping against the sunrise. Sasuke struggled with what he wanted to say – how he wanted to apologize. He was only against keeping contact with them because he didn’t want to put her or Sarada in danger.

“Sakura, I’m- “

She interrupted him, “Don’t apologize, Sasuke-kun. I know you have to do this to protect us. It’s difficult, because you’re missing so much. She’s growing into such a kind, smart soul. She’s at the top of her class and works incredibly hard. Soon, she’ll be joining the academy; she wants to be a strong ninja. I’ve been training her too with combat and helping with ninja tools. Of course, my shuriken and kunai use isn’t as good as yours, but your natural talent in that shines so brightly through her. Her laugh and smile are so pure and full of joy, I wish I could share it with you, though the others say she gets that from me. While she fights with Boruto a lot, they’re still really close friends and it reminds me of the old Team 7. I think she could even have a crush on him, but she’d give me the silent treatment for a month if I teased her about that. Her personality is really showing and I can’t wait to see what paths in life she takes. But it’s also hard because she’s starting to ask more questions about you. Where you are, what kind of person you’re like. She completely forgets you, and the most recent photo I have of you is over ten years old. She misses you. I miss you, bu-“

Sasuke couldn’t handle the sobs that she let out anymore. Her cheeks were stained with tears, and her chest was heaving. At this point, she could barely breathe. He pulled her into the tightest hug he could manage.

“Sakura, thank you.” His eyes were filled with a feeling she couldn’t describe. Regret? No. Loneliness? Not quite.

_Passion._

She only realized this when his lips crashed into hers. It was sloppy at first because she didn’t expect it, but her mouth moved due to muscle memory.

He had almost forgot what she tasted like, her scent. It reminded him of home.   
  
Reluctantly, they parted. Her eyes widened when she realized a tear fell from his own eyes.

She gently wiped them away, “I’ll stay strong. For us.”

He sniffled once before kissing her forehead, then gave a weak smile.

“Until next time, my wife.”

“Until next time, my husband.” Her smile was just as uncertain as his.

Once his figure disappeared, she crouched to the ground, unable to keep her sobs quiet. In that moment, Naruto emerged from the wall he was hiding behind. He knelt next to her, resting his hand on her back.

When her sobs slowed, he spoke up and offered his handkerchief, “Sakura-chan, is there anything I can do to help?”

Sakura shakily wiped away her tears with the cloth, “N-No. Just having him see me was good enough.” She looked up at her friend with a wavering smile, “Thank you, Naruto.”

Wanting to provide support so she wouldn’t be alone, Naruto walked Sakura back to her parents’ place.  

“Let me know if you ever need anything, okay?” He smiled.  _It’s the least I can do for your loneliness. I’m sorry._

“I will.” She nodded.  _Thank you for being my friend_.

Hizashi and Mebuki were anxiously waiting for Sakura to return, sitting in the living room. Upon hearing her return, they practically rushed to the door. The moment she saw her parents; she broke down into silent tears.

They ushered her to the kitchen, where she sat on a barstool.  

“Sakura, dear, I’m so sorry…” Mebuki began, assuming he was dead.

“No, no.” Sakura choked out, “I-I just saw him…”

“What?” Hizashi spoke up this time.

“I can’t explain the details of the mission, but he’ll be gone for longer. I don’t know when he’ll be back. I know he has to do this to protect us, but Sarada is starting to hate him, I can tell. She misses him, hell I miss him. So fucking much.”

Little did they know, Sarada noticed her mom returned. She froze in the hallway when she heard that Sakura saw her father for the first time in five years. Most kids would’ve been jealous. At this point, she didn’t even think of that.

Sasuke was hurting her mother by being gone.

Sarada wanted him back so her mom would stop crying.

She didn’t know how she’d bring him back. With no leads at seven years old, it’d be impossible. So for now, she’d wait. Wait until the time was right.

Sarada was  **determined.**

 

**End.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I can’t believe this is done. I’ve never been so emotionally invested in a story before… Honestly, I wouldn’t have continued this past the first few chapters if I didn’t receive so many amazing comments, likes/kudos, etc. Thank you so much everyone for being supportive!!!! As I stated above, I’d include the link to vote for who I should write about next! The link: https://twitter.com/konyahff! Also, if you don’t want to vote via twitter, you can comment here. The options are:
> 
> Naruhina (Boruto/Himawari origin story)  
> Shikatema (Shikadai origin story)  
> Saino (Inojin origin story)  
> Nejten/Tenlee (Metal Lee origin story; hard to explain beyond that)  
> Konohana  
> Kakairu
> 
> With love,   
> Konyah


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